I was thinking of what a career Nomar Garciaparra would have had if he didn't miss almost all of the 2001 season with a split tendon injury that actually occurred in 1999 when he was hit by a pitch by the Orioles Al Reyes.
(more on this and his other injuries a little later)

For you youngsters Garciaparra was all the rage in Red Sox nation in the late 90's.
He was the new face of shortstops in the golden era of shortstops.
His first four *full seasons* were just as good as Jeter, A-Rod, etc.
He had back to back .357 and .372 batting averages in 1999 and 2000.
He was averaging about 30 bombs a season driving in over 100 a season.
Not to mention he a plus SS glove defensively.
These are his first four full season stats.
Year
 Tm G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+
1997-2000 BOS 571 2580 2349 440 791 174 26 113 420 53 20 180 243 0.337 0.386 0.577 0.963 142
Average 143 645 587 110 198 44 7 28 105 13 5 45 61
per 162 games 162 732 666 125 224 49 7 32 119 15 6 51 69


Yes it was also the era of padded stats, but padded stats applied to all sluggers in that era.

Like I mentioned, Garciaparra was being compared to (and rightfully so after his first four full seasons, but then he missed that 2001 season due to the tendon.

He came back in 2002 and had two very solid consecutive seasons in 2002 and 2003.
That for all intents and purposes was the end of his career even though he played another five years from 2004-2009.

He turned 30 in 2004, was hampered by assorted injuries after that and never came close to playing a full season again.

He was traded by Theo Epstein in mid season during that Red Sox epic Red Sox World Series run to the Cubs mainly because he was due to become a free agent and would require a ton of money to resign.

But for four amazing seasons he was on a first ballot Hall of Fame pace.
Like Don Mattingly his peak was elite, but not nearly log enough.





Year Age Tm Lg G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+ Awards
1996 22 BOS AL 24 93 87 11 21 2 3 4 16 5 0 4 14 0.241 0.272 0.471 0.743 83
1997 23 BOS AL 153 734 684 122 209 44 11 30 98 22 9 35 92 0.306 0.342 0.534 0.875 123 AS,MVP-8,RoY-1,SS
1998 24 BOS AL 143 652 604 111 195 37 8 35 122 12 6 33 62 0.323 0.362 0.584 0.946 140 MVP-2
1999 25 BOS AL 135 595 532 103 190 42 4 27 104 14 3 51 39 0.357 0.418 0.603 1.022 153 AS,MVP-7
2000 26 BOS AL 140 599 529 104 197 51 3 21 96 5 2 61 50 0.372 0.434 0.599 1.033 156 AS,MVP-9
2001 27 BOS AL 21 91 83 13 24 3 0 4 8 0 1 7 9 0.289 0.352 0.47 0.822 114
2002 28 BOS AL 156 693 635 101 197 56 5 24 120 5 2 41 63 0.31 0.352 0.528 0.88 127 AS,MVP-11
2003 29 BOS AL 156 719 658 120 198 37 13 28 105 19 5 39 61 0.301 0.345 0.524 0.87 121 AS,MVP-7
2004 30 TOT MLB 81 354 321 52 99 21 3 9 41 4 1 24 30 0.308 0.365 0.477 0.842 113
2004 30 BOS AL 38 169 156 24 50 7 3 5 21 2 0 8 16 0.321 0.367 0.5 0.867 118
2004 30 CHC NL 43 185 165 28 49 14 0 4 20 2 1 16 14 0.297 0.364 0.455 0.819 109
2005 31 CHC NL 62 247 230 28 65 12 0 9 30 0 0 12 24 0.283 0.32 0.452 0.772 97
2006 32 LAD NL 122 523 469 82 142 31 2 20 93 3 0 42 30 0.303 0.367 0.505 0.872 120 AS,MVP-13
2007 33 LAD NL 121 466 431 39 122 17 0 7 59 3 1 31 41 0.283 0.328 0.371 0.7 80
2008 34 LAD NL 55 181 163 24 43 9 0 8 28 1 1 15 11 0.264 0.326 0.466 0.792 107
2009 35 OAK AL 65 169 160 17 45 8 0 3 16 2 0 8 28 0.281 0.314 0.388 0.701 85
14 Yrs 1434 6116 5586 927 1747 370 52 229 936 95 31 403 554 0.313 0.361 0.521 0.882 124
162 Game Avg. 162 691 631 105 197 42 6 26 106 11 4 46 63 0.313 0.361 0.521 0.882 124
BOS (9 yrs) 966 4345 3968 709 1281 279 50 178 690 84 28 279 406 0.323 0.37 0.553 0.923 133
LAD (3 yrs) 298 1170 1063 145 307 57 2 35 180 7 2 88 82 0.289 0.345 0.445 0.79 102
CHC (2 yrs) 105 432 395 56 114 26 0 13 50 2 1 28 38 0.289 0.339 0.453 0.792 102
OAK (1 yr) 65 169 160 17 45 8 0 3 16 2 0 8 28 0.281 0.314 0.388 0.701 85
AL (10 yrs) 1031 4514 4128 726 1326 287 50 181 706 86 28 287 434 0.321 0.368 0.547 0.914 132
NL (5 yrs) 403 1602 1458 201 421 83 2 48 230 9 3 116 120 0.289 0.344 0.447 0.791 102