I'm still reading the article right now, but I just came across this part:
Nomar stresses that he doesn't want to dwell on the trade saga. But press hard enough, and it's clear the sting is still there. "It's like your wife says, 'I'm going to get rid of you for a new husband.'[Long pause] 'Damn it! I couldn't find anybody in time! I thought I had one, but you know what, on second thought, we couldn't come to terms. Darn it! [Another long pause] Um, I want you back now. I want you back now to take care of our kids. We're all right, right? OK, good. Everything's cool, right? I know I said you were a bad husband, but I didn't mean it.'"
And ya know what, he's absolutely right. I've loved this new ownership regime and Theo Epstein and all, but I think they really dropped the ball with this one. And I don't even just say that in hindsight. Even while it was going on I was uneasy, I could just see this being the exact off-field disaster that was bound to accompany last years on-field disaster (at least the end of it was a disaster). Kevin Millar's comments, missed deadlines with the trade, ridiculous publicity, the OBVIOUS knowledge that ARod would be out of Texas in '04 and that if it wasn't in Boston, it was New York...I compare it to being stuck in a field watching a nuclear warhead parachute down from the sky ready to land smack-dab on your face...you know its coming, but all you can is sit there and take it. Nomah is right to make this analogy and, if he leaves, I'm buying his jersey of his new team and cheering him every time he comes to Fenway. I'll always bleed Red Sox, but for the time being, if my fears come to fruition and I have to see Nomah come back to Boston as a visitor and beat the Red Sox, my opinions of this particular ownership regime will be forever soured.[/b]
Rest in peace Mitch Hedberg. I name my fantasy team "Buoyancy of Citrus", in your honor.
1968-2005
I read that article and it implied that Nomar should swallow his pride for the sake of his fans. What utter bull. The fans are equally guilty in jilting Nomar and using him like a doormat. When it looked as if the Arod deal was close, fans were esctatic and didn't mind shipping Nomar out. He gave his blood and sweat for this team and the fans and this is the thanks he gets?
That jilted husband analogy is the perfect way to describe the whole situation, not just between Nomar and management but also with Red Sox Nation. My friends who are avid Red Sox fans desperately wish he just disappears quietly to the west coast; but I think Nomar should turn around and screw them all. What better way than to sign with the Yankees as their new second baseman.
Experience is a hard teacher. She gives the test first, the lesson afterwards.