Shortstop discusses NL transition and role with Cubs
By Carrie Muskat / MLB.com
Nomar Garciaparra brought a warm smile and a hot bat to Dusty Baker's club. (Brian Kersey/AP)
HOUSTON -- One of the first things Chicago Cubs manager Dusty Baker noticed about Nomar Garciaparra is his smile. He's had plenty to smile about.
A two-time American League batting champion and five-time All-Star with the Boston Red Sox, Garciaparra has switched from one team with a long-suffering fan base that plays in an old ballpark to another. He's fit right in since joining the Cubs in the July 31 four-team trade. Both the Red Sox and the Cubs were five outs away from reaching the World Series last year. Both were picked to get to the Series this season.
He does have a quirky routine that takes some getting used to. Watch how he tugs at his batting gloves and taps his toes before stepping into the batter's box.
"It's just my routine," he said. "Everybody has a routine. I just get myself focused and get ready and step in the batter's box. I've done it as long as I can remember."
Garciaparra, who has been a Cub for three weeks, sat still for a few minutes this weekend to give a three-week update.
MLB.com: I've heard that you use the same glove now that you did in high school?
Garciaparra: No, not any more. One of the gloves I used in high school I used when I broke into the big leagues and I used that for a year or two in the big leagues. That glove has been long retired and it's up on the mantle and on the shelf.
MLB.com: I've also heard you don't study pitchers.
Garciaparra: I don't really focus on the pitcher, I just focus on myself. I go out there and work on my swing and what I have to do. I respect every single pitcher who is out there, I really do. You have that respect every time you step up to the plate. I know at any given time, they can get me out. Hopefully, I focus on swinging the bat right. You have to have that confidence as a hitter that if you're swinging well it doesn't matter who's out there. You should believe you're going to get a hit. I focus more on myself more than who I'm facing that day.
MLB.com: Do you know if today's opposing starting pitcher is right-handed or left-handed?
Garciaparra: I have no idea.
MLB.com: Vladimir Guerrero has made a smooth transition from the National League to the American League, and you appear to be doing the same, going from the American League to the National League. Is it a myth that the two leagues are different?
Nomar Garciaparra / SS
Born: 07/23/73
Height: 6'0"
Weight: 190 lbs
Bats: R / Throws: R
Garciaparra: I don't think it's a myth. It's a different game. It's still baseball. But there are a lot of other things involved. With the pitchers hitting, I think there is strategy involved, there's double switches, there's defensive things involved. There are a lot of different aspects of the game that change from the American League to the National League. There definitely is a difference and an adjustment as well.
Even though I don't study pitchers, you do know if you faced this guy before. You do know that and you have that familiarity. If there is no familiarity, you just go play.
MLB.com: Maybe the switch is easier because of the type of hitter you and Guerrero are?
Garciaparra: Maybe it's more that than anything. We're both kind of free swingers and just swing the bat. I don't think we're the type of guys who just guess out there or say, 'This is the pitch that's coming,' where some guys do know that.
MLB.com: Explain the red wristband. Is that a holdover from your Red Sox days?
Garciaparra: I've always worn a red wristband. Red has always been my favorite color. It had nothing to do with the Red Sox or anything. My other one is black just because I've had the black one for so long. There's no black in the Red Sox uniform. It's just something I've worn. We have red in the Chicago uniform, and I'm glad to see that as well.
MLB.com: Did you wear the red one when you played at Georgia Tech?
Garciaparra: I always had something red with me, even at Georgia Tech. I had to hide it because it was our rival's colors and my coach hated that color so I had to hide it, but it was on me somewhere.
MLB.com: Do you feel like the new kid in school with the Cubs?
Garciaparra: It's a new environment. You're careful where you're sitting on the bus -- I'm hoping I'm not sitting in anybody's seat on the bus, I hope I'm sitting in the right place. I have a routine as well and you don't want to mess with other guys' routines. These guys are unbelievable people and they've made it so much easier.
MLB.com: Have you always played shortstop?
Garciaparra: My whole life, no. I played every single position. Growing up as a kid, I learned every single position. And I loved every single position. My dad taught me that you're going to learn every one, one, to learn the game, and two, I realized how valuable every single guy is on the field.
They used to say when you were young in Little League you put the worst guy in right field. Where I play now, some of the best guys are in right field. I was out there in right field. I learned that every single guy had a job to do out there and every one was equally as important.
I didn't start playing strictly shortstop until my senior year in high school. In high school, I was a catcher, played second base, I pitched and played third base.
MLB.com: Were you a good pitcher?
Garciaparra: I threw hard.
MLB.com: You're a free agent after this season. What will it take to get you to stay in Chicago?
Garciaparra: Right now my focus isn't on the future. The only focus for me in the future is to try to get to the World Series. That's my main focus. That's what we should be worried about. This great team that we have is fun to watch, it's going out there and trying to get the ultimate goal and trying to get to the World Series.
That's stuff to worry about later. I'm not even going to worry about that now. Even people in the front office, they're not worried about it. They got me because they believe I can help us win and I hope I can and that's what I'm trying to do.
Carrie Muskat is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
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Nomar Garciaparra / SS
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