New Groin Injury Knocks Out Nomar

Injury Prone Superstar Out for at Least Five More Games

The Chicago Tribune is reporting that former Red Sox shortstop Nomar Garciaparra, who has been hampered by Achilles, wrist, and now groin injuries all season long, may miss the remainder of the 2004 regular season after the team reviewed Nomar's latest MRI taken on Sunday.

More MRI Than RBI

It was a sprained left wrist, not his infamous right Achilles tendon, that kept Number 5 out of the lineup for three games in August, but suddenly the groin injury is the worst of the three reported injuries. On Saturday, Nomar who previously stated that his Achilles wasn't getting any worse, said "I tweaked my groin a little bit, and I've been playing on it. Since my Achilles has been bothering me so much, (I started) compensating and ... tweaked my groin. I didn't want to come out. It's a matter of what can you play with, what can you go with."

MLB.com reported "the Achilles flared up in Spring Training" and many believe that the original injury, which forced him to miss the first 57 games of the Red Sox season, happened prior to his reporting to camp and may be soccer related. Over the weekend Nomar told the media "It's frustrating. It's been one of those years, especially when you start off with the Achilles. When you have foot problems, everything goes upward. It's like a pitcher -- sometimes you have shoulder problems and you develop elbow problems because your body takes over and tries to compensate. Ever since my Achilles, I haven't been running the way I want to run, and biomechanically other things break down. It's something you battle through and deal with."

Mia's Beautiful Mind

"One of the things that we talked about is that we get to make (the decision) together... The off-season, you have to worry about it (next contract) then. You need your focus to be where it needs to be. It would be a disservice to his teammates if he is not there 100 percent on every pitch and every play. And that's the way he feels about it." -- ChicagoSports.com

Cubs Don't Want Him

"But then came the comments on ESPN Radio by teammate and friend Todd Walker, who played with Garciaparra in Boston. The question was simple enough: Does Nomar want to return to the Cubs? Walker's answer was powerful. "I can answer for him and say there's no doubt he'd want to come back. The issue is the money. Do the Cubs want to pay him what he's worth?'' the second baseman said. "I doubt it, I don't know. That's the main issue. I think Nomar's worth that type of money, and I don't think the Cubs are going to give it to him.''

Why not?

"Because it's going to be 16, 17, 18 million dollars a year,'' said Walker, who, as far as anyone knows, isn't a certified player agent. "And I know the Cubs aren't going to do that with anybody. In this day and age, the economics of baseball have drastically changed. And the other thing is, Nomar will get it somewhere.''

Walker is right. The Cubs likely won't offer more than $12 million annually for four years. If that isn't enough -- if Garciaparra is still fixated on Rodriguez's $252 million deal and Derek Jeter's $189 million deal -- he needs to realize he has been damaged goods in recent seasons and enjoyed his best offensive years back in the late '90s. Say Anaheim or another franchise from his native California offers a better package. The Nomar experience would be remembered as a brief rental. -- 9.10: Jay Mariotti, Chicago Sun Times

Those Were the Days My Friend,
He Thought They'd Never End.