TFT:  Goldwater: The Five Books of Nomar

Including a chapter of early Shaughnessy bereishit…

Despite his greatness, Moses was never allowed to win the big one. He had sinned. But the Israelites had sinned as well; they had worshipped a Golden Calf. And Red Sox Nation had its golden calf moment. The Red Sox traded for false idol Alex Rodriguez in the 2003/4 offseason; he was to displace Garciaparra as shortstop and leader. Though the transaction was nixed, and Nomar remained. And then, in July, just weeks before the trade, Red Sox Nation did the unthinkable; they worshipped hated rival Derek Jeter. As Dan Shaughnessy recalls, in a Biblical narrative,

  then came the nationally televised midsummer game at Yankee Stadium, when Nomar refused to play while Derek Jeter saved the game with a face-first plunge into the stands behind third base.

Whereas Jeter was a gamer, a real leader, Garciaparra was an illusion, a sulking and selfish quitter. Red Sox Nation had given up on Nomar, and coveted Jeter, the Yankees’ own golden boy. Yet Red Sox Nation was given the promised land, and Nomar was left to die on the banks of the River Jordan, in Chicago, Los Angeles, and Oakland.

Citing the numerous injuries that have (10) plagued Garciaparra’s career, and the SI cover photo of a frame bulking beyond its natural contours, one could be forgiven for thinking Nomar sinned against the commandment banning performance-enhancers. But Moses was able- at the age of one hundred and twenty- to climb a mountain in order to die; that can’t be natural either.