He has the speed. Maintains the geared up arm. The batting skills of his are phenomenal, and his adapted fielding is indescribable. Nomar Garciaparra, one of the newest members of the Red Sox, is also one of baseball's next rising stars. Originally drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers in 1991 in the fifth round, Garciaparra instead went the play for Georgia Tech's Yellow Jackets. Later in 1992, he would join the USA Olympic Baseball Team in Barcelona for their quest for glory. During Nomar's playing time in 1994, the Boston Red Sox drafted him 12th Overall in the Baseball Amateur draft in June. After signing a contract with Boston that came along with a $895,000 signing bonus, Garciaparra headed to Single A Sarasota in the Florida State League hitting .295 for the season. Later that fall Nomar would also play in the Arizona Fall League which he batted .328 for Scottsdale.

As 1995 approached, Nomar joined the Double A Trenton Thunder and completed his first full season of professional baseball. In this season Nomar led his team with runs (77), at bats (513), triples (8), and set a team record with his 35 steals. He was an Eastern League All-Star and hit .267 for the year. Nomar started the 1996 season on the disabled list with a sore ankle, but came back playing regularly in July joining the Pawtucket Triple A farm club. After hitting over .300 there, Boston called him up for his debut on August 31, 1996. Surprisingly, Nomar homered in his first Major League at-bat also going 3 for 4 for the day. Garciaparra ended up finished the season in the majors with a .241 batting average.

As Nomar served his first full season of major league baseball in 1997, he started his remarkable season earning a starting position at shortstop. Garciaparra has proven himself with his talents on the diamond so well, that he became chosen to play in the All Star Game in Cleveland and was voted American League Player of the week for August 4-10. He had also set records for most home runs by a rookie shortstop, shattered the hits mark for rookies, and hit safely in 30 games (also an American League Rookie Record). Ending the season with a .306 batting average, 30 homers, 98 RBI, 122 runs and 22 swiped bases, it was no surprise that Garciaparra won the American League Rookie of the Year award by a unanimous vote. Nomar accomplished very much in '97, and it doesn't look like he's ready to turn the other cheek for a sophomore jinx.

In March of 1998, Nomar agreed to a five-year pact with the BoSox worth $23.25 million including a two year club option in the terms. As the numbers explain, the Red Sox have high hopes for Garciaparra. He has clearly showed that the 1998 season was not a second year fluke, rather one of the best seasons ever for a second year standout. Garciaparra swung a .323 average at the plate along with 35 dingers and 119 Runs batted in. Nomar proved to be effective in the clutch situations which helped Boston get to the postseason, and with his efforts landed him second in the MVP balloting behind Juan Gonzalez.

In the 1998 offseason, the power nucleus of the Red Sox Mo Vaughn, left Boston after becoming a free agent. Leaving the leadership in the hands of a two year veteran Garciaparra, many questioned not only could Nomar handle the pressure, but would he try to do too much for the club after the loss of the hit dog? Many had to see just what would happen.

During the spring stretch, Nomar experienced minor injuries that kept his bat out of the game on an everyday basis. Ranging from tendenitis problems to a pulled hamstring, for the first three weeks in and out of the Sox' lineup. Then one May afternoon, he was all the sudden on fire. He hit three home runs (two of them being grand slams) and started the All-Star game in front of the hometown crowd at Fenway. Producing game breaking hits throughout the season, Nomar created an extraordinary impact on his team as they made a strong run for the Wild Card berth. Indeed Garciaparra proved to fans and front office that he could remain productive at the plate even without Mo Vaughn batting in front of him. He continued to amaze entering the playoffs for that season, as the team made a serious run to the World Series. Though the Yankees barely slipped by them in the october hunt, the season Garciaparra and the Red Sox produced was another one to remember.

The following season, 2000 was projected to be a huge one for the Sox. With a strong pitching rotation and depth in the lineup, it was said by many that the Sox had the mentality and the makeup to take the 2000 championship. At first the team started out very successful with the performance of newcomer Carl Everett and new closer Derek Lowe. However, at mid-season some things did not go as expected for the team. The run production was down and with Jose Offerman injured the Red Sox found winning games without run production was only winning half the battle. Throughout the season, there was a lot of talk about the chase for .400. Between Todd Helton and Nomar Garciaparra, there were challenging the feat very well up to the month of August. Both players won batting crowns in their leagues (the second for Nomar), but the Red Sox failed to meet expectations of fans to make a playoff berth.