Nomar Garciaparra

Anthony Nomar Garciaparra (/ˈnoʊmɑːr ɡɑːrˌsiːəˈpɑːrə/; born July 23, 1973) is an American retired Major League Baseball player and current SportsNet LA analyst. After playing parts of nine seasons as an All-Star shortstop for the Boston Red Sox, he played third base and first base for the Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Dodgers, and the Oakland Athletics. He is one of 13 players in Major League history to hit two grand slams during a single game, and the only player to achieve the feat at his home stadium.\n', ' Garciaparra is a six-time All-Star (1997, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2006), and was the AL Rookie of the Year and AL Silver Slugger Award winner at shortstop in 1997. In 2001, he suffered a wrist injury, the first in a series of significant injuries that plagued the remainder of his career. Known for his ability to hit for average, Garciaparra is a lifetime .313 hitter. He had the highest single-season batting average by a right handed batter in the post-war era, batting .372 in 2000, and was the first right handed batter to win the AL Batting Title in consecutive seasons since Joe DiMaggio, when he accomplished the feat in 1999 and 2000\n', ' Garciaparra, who is of Mexican-American descent, was born in Whittier, California and attended St. John Bosco High School in Bellflower, California. His middle name comes from his father, Ramon; Nomar is "Ramon" spelled backwards. Ramon is often cited as a big help in his son\'s development as an athlete. When Nomar was a young boy, his father stressed the importance of not striking out, offering him 25 cents for each hit in tee ball, and fining him 50 cents for every strikeout. When Nomar was 13, Ramon once put him in a batting cage against a college pitcher who could throw 90 miles per hour (140 km/h). Nomar\'s father encouraged him, and, after missing the first pitch, Nomar proceeded to hit solid line drives on the next two pitches.\n', '