Projo Sox Blog

Nomar Garciaparra, who began -- and, courtesy of a one-day, minor-league contract, officially ended -- his career as a Red Sox, was a terrific player, as his .323 average, with 178 homers and 690 RBI in his 966 games in a Boston uniform, clearly proves.

He was a terrific teammate, as Jason Varitek, Tim Wakefield, and David Ortiz all attested Wednesday.

But Nomar was not terrific with the media during his nine years with the Red Sox, so it's odd that his next career is going to be as an analyst with ESPN.

Why would a guy who obviously disliked the media decide to become part of it?

Nomar acknowledged Wednesday that he wasn't the easiest player to deal with.

"I definitely recognize that and I know that," he said.

Hopefully, the players he interviews will be more congenial to him than he was to media members who interviewed him.

Tampa Bay Rays prized left-hander David Price, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2007 draft, left Wednesday's game against the Boston Red Sox in the bottom of the second inning after being hit on the right hand by the barrel of a shattered bat.

With no outs and Kevin Youkilis on first base for the Red Sox, Adrian Beltre's bat splintered on a pitch from Price. The barrel headed toward the mound, where price deflected it with his non-pitching arm.

Price walked off the field with a towel wrapped around his right hand. According to team spokesman Rick Vaughn, Price had an abrasion on his right thumb and will not need stitches.

The Rays held a 1-0 lead at the time, but Youkilis and Beltre eventually scored in the inning, both runs being charged to Price.

-AP

GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) -- On his first day as Dodgers interim manager, hitting coach Don Mattingly confirmed Wednesday that the team has made overtures about him eventually becoming Joe Torre's permanent replacement.

With Torre en route to Taiwan to manage a Dodgers split squad for three exhibition games, Mattingly is in charge of the team in Arizona and will work at least five games as manager.

Mattingly interviewed with the Cleveland Indians for their manager opening this offseason. He then turned down an interview request from the Washington Nationals.

In a meeting this winter with Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti, owner Frank McCourt and team president Dennis Manion, Mattingly said the word manager was brought up but nothing definitive was said or done.

Torre's contract expires after this season but both he and McCourt said they are working on a one-year extension. Mattingly would then take over the Dodgers in 2012.

Nomar is back, once and for all. Today the Sox announced that Garciaparra, who was once the toast of town and was then just as quickly forgotten as the team won a World Series without him, has signed a one-day contract with Boston that will allow him to retire as a Red Sox.

"Earlier today, I did sign a contract. A Minor League contract to be a part of the organization once again. I was getting choked up then, I'm choked up now. I've got the chills. But to be able to have that dream come true, I really just can't put it into words. What this organization has always meant to me and meant to my family, the fans. I always tell people Red Sox Nation is bigger than any nation out there and to be able to say I came back home and to be back to Red Sox Nation is truly a thrill," Garciaparra said.

Garciaparra, 36, will now begin his new career, as an analyst with ESPN.

"My future in baseball, I also after this will be working for ESPN and working for ESPN, which is great because I don't get to totally walks away from the game. I get to continue to be a part of the game, so that's a huge step for me as well."

Garciaparra broke in with Boston in 1996 and was named the 1997 rookie of the year. He was known for his laser line drives and aggressive batting style, as well as his quirky batter's box behavior. Garciaparra gave Boston one of the 'big three' shortstops who brought offense to a traditionally defensive position in the late 1990s, along with Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter.

"We are pleased that Nomar Garciaparra feels such an enduring pride in, respect for, and connection to the Boston Red Sox and Red Sox Nation. I believe I can speak for our entire organization and our passionate fan base and say those sentiments are mutual; we feel the same pride, respect, and connection to Nomar," said Sox President/CEO Larry Lucchino. "Welcome home, Nomar."

Garciaparra's relationship with the club soured in 2003 and 2004 over monetary issues and questions about his return from a wrist injury, and the shortstop was traded in the summer of 2004 for his replacement, Orlando Cabrera. The Sox went on to win the World Series without Garciaparra, and Nomar's career began a downward spiral from which it never really recovered. He spent five injury-plagued years with the Cubs and Dodgers, and last played off the bench with Oakland in 2009.

As he began his offseason workouts this winter, he realized he didn't have the same stamina, ability or desire he once had. Partway through, he realized he was done, as he told his wife, soccer player Mia Hamm.

"I knew there was a time in this offseason when I was getting ready and I remember coming home and looking at my wife and going, my tank is empty. It truly is. That for me is an absolute thrill to be able to say that, that I really just gave everything I could to this game, and as much as I could. That was really the ultimate decision," Garciaparra siad.

Manager Terry Francona managed Garciaparra twice during his career, early when he was a prospect during the Arizona Fall League, and later during his unhappy final days with Boston. He remembers seeing a man in two dramatically different places in his life.

"you know what, the time I managed him was twice. Once in the Fall League, which was one of the highlights of my career. And his last part in Boston was tough. I remember I kind of said he was kind of 'Boston'd out'. You know, I think it had kind of wore on him for whatever reasons. Sometimes it's time to move on. That doesn't mean he's a bad person. I think the fact that he's coming back today kind of shows that. but having in the Fall League was one of the treats I've ever had," Francona said.

While Nomar left on bad terms, the success the team had following his departure and the passage of time seemed to heal any wounds that were once there. When he returned with Oakland earlier this season, the Fenway crowd gave him a huge standing ovation. He soaked it in, and overflowed with emotion after the game. Today, he said that was a truly special moment for him.

"All of it. That ovation was incredible. Not only just the ovation, but what I got all along, the entire time, from Red Sox, about Red Sox Nation. That is the perfect word to describe it because they are everywhere. Everywhere I go, I get so many people come to me and tell me, , thank you. Thank you for what you've done and thank you for being a part of it and we still love you. It's so genuine. The feelings are mutual. Hopefully from my actions throughout my career in that uniform, and hopefully my actions today again tell them what it means to me. and again, the feelings are mutual how I feel about them as well," Garciaparra said.

Garciaparra owns a .313 batting average with 229 homers and 936 RBI in 14 major league seasons. During his nine seasons in Boston he compiled a .323 batting average, 178 homers and 690 RBI in 966 games.

Tim Wakefield keeps rolling on, looking healthy as a 43-year-old knuckleball pitcher possibly could despite offseason back surgery. Wakefield's knuckler eluded the Florida Marlins over three scoreless innings today here in Jupiter, setting the tone for a 9-0 Boston win.

Wakefield was so efficient in dispatching the Marlins that he needed to go another 20 pitches in the bullpen following his start so that he could get in a full workload.

Offensively, the Sox' young hitters kept up their assault on spring opponents. Josh Reddick, in particular, continues to blister Grapefruit League pitching. After whacking a double and a triple Monday, he added two more doubles and a single today, helping to lead a 13-hit onslaught

The Red Sox return home Wednesday for a matchup with the Tampa Bay Rays at 1:05 p.m.

Julio Lugo, John Smoltz, Brad Penny, Joel Pineiro, Tony Womack.

The St. Louis Cardinals have done pretty well with players that have basically been busts in Boston, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch points out.

Click here to read the story.

NEW YORK (AP) -- Hal Steinbrenner says the New York Yankees won't alter their policy against contract extensions and will deal with Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera and Joe Girardi after the season.

Speaking Tuesday following a news conference to announce details of the first bowl game at new Yankee Stadium, the team's managing general partner says he doesn't believe in extensions "no matter who it is."

Jeter and Rivera can become free agents after the World Series, and Girardi's three-year contract expires after the season.

Steinbrenner says his policy is "nothing personal."

JUPITER, FL -- The Sox crossed Florida today to take on the Marlins here at Roger Dean Stadium, where Tim Wakefield will look to ramp up for the season with a three-inning performance. Wakefield is no lock for a crowded rotation that also includes hopefuls Daisuke Matsuzaka and Clay Buchholz, and every healthy start he delivers makes his case for an opening day rotation spot.

The lineup is light on regulars, but Jacoby Ellsbury, Bill Hall, and Jed Lowrie are in the lineup, as is Jeremy Hermida, a former Marlin making his first visit to Roger Dean after joining the Sox in the offseason.

DH Ellsbury
3B Hall
LF Hermida
1B Anderson
RF Reddick
CF Kalish
2B Lowrie
C Brown
SS Navarro

RHP Wakefield

All AP photos
Click here to see Dan Barbarisi's video journal.

Jose Iglesias keeps showing why he's such a hot commodity here in spring training -- and now he's doing it with his bat as well as his heralded glove. With the Sox trailing 3-2 to the Cardinals today, Iglesias hit a three-run homer over the left field fence to put his team ahead.

Iglesias said it was, so far, his favorite moment of his brief Red Sox career.

"It's a spring training game, but he felt very proud that he was a part of us winning the game. Very happy that it came out the way it came out," he said through translator Gil Velazquez.

Randor Bierd ultimately gave away the lead in the top of the ninth inning, but Josh Reddick whacked an RBI double -- his second big hit of the game -- to tie it up in the bottom of the ninth, and then scored when Che-Hsuan Lin drove him in with a game-winning single.

Reddick now has five hits, including three extra-base hits, in 13 spring training at-bats. He said he's trying to show his coaches that he's both patient and explosive.

"You always want to leave a good impression each time, whether it's your first year or your fifth year. I'm just trying to work more counts and see more pitches, as opposed to what I did last year at the end of the year, got all hurried up and swung at the end of the count," Reddick said.

Josh Beckett got the start and delivered as usual today, throwing three perfect innings in his third spring training start to keep the St. Louis Cardinals at bay here at City of Palms Park.

"I got the ball down well. I got some groundballs in the first inning and got my
legs under me in the second," Beckett said.

The Sox didn't allow a hit until Manny Delcarmen gave up a seventh inning home run.

Beckett struck out three, and said he felt like his timing was strong, particularly as he fhe works to use his changeup more. He used the change effectively to set down St. Louis cleanup hitter Colby Rasmus in his second inning of work.

The Red Sox took the lead in the second when J.D. Drew tripled and Bill Hall drove him home with a single to left. They added another run in the bottom of the fifth when Josh Reddick slammed a triple into the right-field gap, driving home David Ortiz.

Beckett, Jonathan Papelbon, Hideki Okajima and Ramon Ramirez combined for six innings of hitless ball before Delcarmen gave up the first hit and run. Then Dustin Richardson gave up two more, though he was plagued by bad luck -- a potentially inning-ending grounder caromed off the second-base umpire to fall for a base hit, and another inning ending liner was almost caught in the outfield -- before coming out of the game with an injury.

The Red Sox have agreed to one-year contracts with the 13 young, non-arbitration eligible players on their 40-man roster,

Pitchers Daniel Bard, Michael Bowden, Clay Buchholz, Felix Doubront, Dustin Richardson and Ramon A. Ramirez all agreed to deals, as did catchers Mark Wagner and Dusty Brown, infielders Aaron Bates, Tug Hulett and Jed Lowrie, and outfielders Jacoby Ellsbury and Josh Reddick.

The Sox did not disclose the terms of the deal, but all are expected to pay at or near the major-league minimum for time in the majors, which works out to a little over $400,000 over the course of a full season.