Anthony Nomar Garciaparra (/ˈnoʊmɑːr ɡɑːrˌsiːəˈpɑːrə/; born July 23, 1973) is an American former Major League Baseball player and current SportsNet LA analyst.

Garciaparra helped the Yellow Jackets reach the College World Series title game in 1994; they lost to Oklahoma.

That season, Garciaparra batted .343 with 16 home runs and 46 RBI in just 43 games and earned a late-season call up to the Major Leagues.

On September 18, 1996, Garciaparra stole his first major league base against the Tigers, which happened on the same night where Roger Clemens tied his own MLB record for striking out 20 batters in a game.

[10] He was named an MLB All-Star in 1999, earning the right to start at shortstop and bat second for the game which took place in front of his hometown fans at Boston's Fenway Park.

[11] Against the New York Yankees in the 1999 American League Championship Series, Garciaparra was again at his finest, hitting .400 with two home runs, but the team lost in five games.

In February 2001, a shirtless and muscular Garciaparra appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated, with the headline "A Cut Above... baseball's toughest out".

[12] Sports Illustrated later described the cover photo as "controversial", adding that it "forever fueled the inevitable speculation of steroid usage".

However, the week after the issue hit newsstands, Garciaparra aggravated an old wrist injury[14] and had to start the season on the disabled list.

Garciaparra was recognized by baseball in making his fourth MLB All-Star Game, and he finished 11th in AL MVP voting at the end of the season.

Contract extension negotiations between Garciaparra's agent (Arn Tellem) and Red Sox brass went on during the offseason, but an agreement could not be reached.

The Red Sox returned to MLB's postseason for the first time since 1999, largely due to a potent lineup that featured Garciaparra, Manny Ramirez, and David Ortiz.

The Red Sox won the series in five games to face the rival Yankees in the ALCS, where Garciaparra fared even worse.

At the time, Boston was down 6–4 and facing elimination, but the hit started a rally that saw the Red Sox come back and win 9–6 to force a Game 7.

With Garciaparra's contract situation still not settled, Red Sox management explored trading Manny Ramírez to the Texas Rangers for shortstop Alex Rodriguez after the 2003 season.

Garciaparra thus returned to Boston for the start of the 2004 season in the final year of the old contract from March 1998, without an extension, and it quickly became clear that he was displeased with the team's handling of the situation.

General Manager Theo Epstein believed defense was the team's weak point, and felt he needed to improve it for Boston to have any shot at winning a World Series.

On July 31, 2004 (the MLB trading deadline), Garciaparra was the key player involved in a four-team deal that sent him and Matt Murton to the wild-card-leading Chicago Cubs.

The Red Sox received shortstop Orlando Cabrera from the Montreal Expos and first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz from the Minnesota Twins.

[21] Also part of the lure of the Dodgers was that former Red Sox players Bill Mueller and Derek Lowe, and former manager Grady Little, were already with the team.

Though he was able to retain his original jersey number (5), he moved to first base, as the Dodgers had also signed Rafael Furcal from the Atlanta Braves to step in for the recovering César Izturis at shortstop.

On June 6, while facing the New York Mets Nomar hit a two-run home run on the first pitch he ever saw against former teammate and fellow Boston icon Pedro Martínez.

[22] Six days later on September 24, Garciaparra hit a game-winning grand slam against the Arizona Diamondbacks to give the Dodgers a 5–1 victory with one week left in the regular season.

[21][23] Garciaparra got off to a strong start in 2007, batting .307 in April, but did not hit for power as he usually did, with only 1 home run during the first two and a half months of the season.

On April 16, he started his first game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, only to suffer a strained left calf muscle nine days later, resulting in another trip to the DL.

Garciaparra threw out the first pitch on Nomar Day, with his signature off-balance sidearm throw, to his former teammate Jason Varitek.

However, a few months into the season he was promoted from the radio broadcasts and added to the television crew, working with Charley Steiner and Orel Hershiser on road games.

The show itself had referenced Garciaparra during 14 sketches called The Boston Teens starring Jimmy Fallon and Rachel Dratch who played a pair of Lexington, Massachusetts teenagers.

The duo were avid fans of the Boston Red Sox; in particular their favorite player, who they called: "Nomah" and sported team shirts.

[34] Garciaparra's younger brother, Michael, was selected by the Seattle Mariners in the first round of the 2001 MLB draft and played in Minor League Baseball until 2010.