Finally, he came back and played . . . and struggled. Wiseguys were putting "Pokey Would Have Had It" bumper stickers on their cars and the Nation seemed to have forgotten seven years of stellar service.
Nomar was hitting .243 with no homers and a mere 3 RBIs in 10 games when he stepped to the plate in the seventh inning last night against the Twins and made everything right for one shining moment. It was still a 4-1 ballgame and Manny Ramirez had been intentionally walked to load the bases. The immortal Joe Roa (No. 71 in your program) was summoned from the bullpen.
And then Nomar did what he's done so many times in his career. He swung at the first pitch and put the game out of reach, hitting a heat-seeking grand slam to the bleachers in straightaway center. The homer at once silenced his critics and reminded a forgetful Nation that he's still one of the best players in baseball, a player worth keeping now and forever.
"That must have felt good," said Sox general manager Theo Epstein. "To get a pitch and drive it like that, it's got to feel tremendous."
Ever one to downplay his deeds, Garciaparra settled for, "It was nice. I was just glad I was able to pick us up. David [Ortiz] and Manny and Curt [Schilling] all did great. The guys played good defensively."
Typical Nomar. He's not one to stand on the mountaintop and say, "Take that, you bozos!" He's never going to give us the Ali or Barkley sound bite. He spoonfeeds vanilla, even when the moment calls for Cherry Garcia or Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough. We're never going to know how he really feels. Not even when it's too late and he's gone.
He came close last week when he spilled some truth on a Herald reporter while the team was in Colorado. He made references to anonymous critics, those straw men who think he "sucks." He said his skills would still be valued -- if not here, somewhere.
"I think those comments were in response to fans or someone who was doubting him," said Epstein. "We want him to succeed and see him stay here and succeed a long time. If you want to focus on a comment from him, focus on all the times that he says he wants to stay here and believe the man."
