Nomar Garciaparra Quotations

You know it as soon as you walk in Yankee Stadium. The electricity is there every time, every day.

My inspiration was the game itself, not any individual player in it.

People are going to make comparisons and they can do that but I'm definitely not going to compare myself to Derek Jeter.

When I go home my mother still makes me take out the garbage.

It's great that fans have people they can enjoy and watch play.

That's basically what I'm doing when I'm tapping them - getting my toes to the end of my shoes.

People ask me if my shoes were too small when I was a kid and I say it wouldn't matter how fight my shoes were, I just liked that feeling of them being in there. That's how I started tapping my toes.

People expect you to play your best, so I go through a routine to prepare myself so that I know I'm physically and mentally ready - prepared for the game.

One-year deals, changing positions, I'm not worried about that.

No, I can't remember the last time I played outfield -- not even in high school.

Pettitte did a great job, the kind I've come to expect of him while facing him so many times in the American League. But so did Derek.

I'm always trying to win, but at the same time I can also appreciate a great, well-fought game. And if it's a tie 'You were great. I was great. Hey, let's go home.' It doesn't mean I'm not as competitive.

If it was in my control, I'd still be wearing a Red Sox uniform, because it's the place I know, I love. All of those fans, I'll always remember. But I'm also going to another great place. I'm going to a phenomenal city with great tradition as well, phenomenal fans, great organization.

Hard Hat Day for the rest of the year.

He knows how to pitch. He's a guy whose slider looks like he can throw it four times in the dirt and walk you, or he'll throw it three times and hit the outside corner and strike you out.

I think it's funny. You have one fan yelling and you have all the other fans telling him to shut up. I think it was just one, so one didn't spoil the whole bunch.

I think the last time I was 100 percent might have been when I was 5, but I'm feeling pretty good. I did a lot of things to keep my legs in shape and maintain that, so going out there is not going to be much of a shock.

I think that exacerbated the situation a little bit more. It was a combination of that trauma and my body kind of protecting itself from the (groin) surgery. Every day I'm doing everything I can to try and get loose.

Just get a ball I can drive and get it up in the air. If you get the ball in the air, you get a guy in. If not, worse-case scenario, you've got a guy in Bill Mueller who will give you a good at-bat.

That ball in center field was tough to catch. I didn't see where it was going. Things like that happen.

I wish I was playing all year, that's for sure. I had an injury, I'm glad I came back, glad I'm playing the way I'm capable of playing.

It didn't change him at all. That didn't surprise me. He's a such a great person, a great manager. Something like that - he wasn't going to let it change who he is.

Those two games down there definitely helped. It was good to go out there, because you have to test it in a game situation. When you get into this environment, you can't simulate the game. And if I test it here and have a setback, that kind of hurts the team as well. So I didn't want to do that. It's not 100 percent, but I didn't expect it to be.

What happened is part of the game. I'm not going to sulk about it. I'm glad to be playing the game that I love.

You go out there and play hard and make plays. That's what this team is about.

Every position is important and has its differences. It takes time to reach the same instinct level at first base that I had shortstop. It is a work in progress, but I'm getting there.

At third, that's still a work in progress. That's what's great, every day I get to work at third, work at hitting, I've got to do everything.

The reward is just being able to play again, ... I want to be back to play with these guys.

It was the place where I saw my first major league game. It brought back a lot of childhood memories. There was feeling that I got by going there.

The three of us just want to be back and be a part of it and hopefully help in any way possible, ... I think that's our mentality.

After you have the injuries and that stuff, it's just good to get out there playing. I'm just trying to see the ball and drive it. I'm getting good concentration and have been able to drive the ball.

Back then, my idol was Bugs Bunny, because I saw a cartoon of him playing ball - you know, the one where he plays every position himself with nobody else on the field but him? Now that I think of it, Bugs is still my idol. You have to love a ballplayer like that.

Zambrano pitched a great game tonight. He kept them off-balance and got a couple hits tonight.

This is definitely a place I will consider.

As we went along, it was my call along with the trainer. I felt great, so I said let's keep going.

It was definitely a learning experience and we'll see it they keep me out there.

It was something new every time I turned around that season. Ultimately, you don't have the energy to keep defending yourself, but at this point I don't want to rehash it. I've moved on and they've moved on.

It's a learning process. At some point, I won't be thinking five million things in my head. Maybe that will come at the end of the year. Comfort comes when you do things instinctively, you don't have to think.

It's good to get plays like that under your belt. You want to experience plays like that in spring training. You just can't simulate it, no matter how hard you try, at the speed of the game. Sele did a great job of getting over there.

It's nice to get some wins. We played well as a team. We did the little things right. Our pitching and bullpen did their thing and that's why we came away with three wins.

It'll be some adjustment all year long. I've been working on that all spring, and I'll continue to work on that. I've been working hard to get ready for that.

It just shows that they respect what I did when I was there and that's nice. I've always appreciated the fans in Boston. When I was signing autographs, I just reminded them to make sure they visit the gift shop and pick up something in a nice blue color.

It's great, I'm excited to play for Grady again. He's unbelievable. He's a great manager. He's got great wisdom, he knows the game so well, he's so great to play for and he wins. That's what's awesome.

It's driving me crazy. I want to be out there.

It was nice to be out there. I ran well. Things like that are going to keep coming. This is what I've been working hard for.

I've got a stack of them. I'm trying to get a feel for what I like and don't like.

Not at all. I cried. I was crushed. The city and the fans meant that much to me, and they still do. I played for those fans, my teammates, the history of that franchise. It was hard to take the way it went down, but the thing I'm proudest of from my time in Boston is that we raised more than $1 million for charity and there is still a playground that has my name on it.

They'll always be in my heart. That's probably what I miss most are the people. I think they know I gave everything I could. I tried both on and off the field as best as I could because I appreciated them so much.

I'm not here to prove anything I'm just here to play,

I'm excited. I've had three days of batting practice and felt really good, so this is definitely the next step.

I kept swinging and kept feeling it. I was hoping it would feel better today, but it's still pretty sore.

I knew that going in, ... I never said it was going to be easy, I never said it was an easier position. I said I'll try it, knowing how difficult it will be. There are a lot of guys on our team doing things to get the team where we want to be.

I'm just swinging. It's just like third base - you go out there and work on that as well, and it's a constant adjustment and constantly working on it every day.

I never saw a problem with it being a tie. I saw one of the best games I've ever seen.

I just threw the barrel at it, tried to drive it. Fortunately for me I got lucky and it went out for me.

I haven't thought about it, I haven't thought about any of that stuff,

If you wake up one day and start reading your station is interviewing people to take your spot, to replace you, how would you feel about that?

If you were in a skid, Pedro would come in and stop the bleeding at times. He can give you a boost when he goes out there because you know he wants the ball every time. Every fifth day he's asking for that ball, and he's such a competitor, and you play so well behind him because he just breeds that when he steps on the mound.

I don't know if there's more pressure this time of the season. We put pressure on ourselves to perform.

I didn't know if I was going to be back this year with the injury. I'm happy to be back and doing anything I can.

If I had something to prove, I wouldn't have had so many teams talking to me. I had opportunities to take more than one year. I could have played short for a couple teams.

I believe it's only going to be a two-week thing. Let's get this right so we can put this behind us.

Health is always a factor. Everyone needs to stay healthy and do their job. These guys believe in each other.

People ask me if my shoes were too small when I was a kid and I say it wouldnt matter how fight my shoes were, I just liked that feeling of them being in there. Thats how I started tapping my toes.

I love the game of baseball.

If it was in my control, Id still be wearing a Red Sox uniform, because its the place I know, I love. All of those fans, Ill always remember. But Im also going to another great place. Im going to a phenomenal city with great tradition as well, phenomenal fans, great organization.

You'll have games where you're out there a long time. Being able to go through that and not get stiff was a good thing for me, ... As I went along, it felt better, and on that last play [a nifty move to his right and a throw across his body for the final out in the seventh] had a lot of body torque to it, and no problems.

Get an education because no one can take that away from you.

One of my superstitions is I'm not allowed to talk about them.

I feel good, and the way I determine it is through my workout. I work so hard in the offseason that if I'm able to do everything I have to, I figure I must be healthy.

All players are their own worst critics. We are harder on ourselves than anyone else is.

You can't hit without your hands.

Back then, my idol was Bugs Bunny, because I saw a cartoon of him playing ball - you know, the one where he plays every position himself with nobody else on the field but him? Now that I think of it, Bugs is still my idol. You have to love a ballplayer like that.

These guys never give up, ... Guys are going out there, and they care. We're just playing pretty well right now.

All I've done is go up there the same as I have been. Every time I step up to the plate I'm doing whatever I can to get on base and help the team. That's really my focus each and every time.

The effort is there. The effort is always there. Everyone is a professional. If you played against us on a Sunday in a park with our families, you're going to see effort there. That's the nature of us. None of these guys would be here in the big leagues if they didn't have that attitude every day.