I always wondered if Nomar, looking back, thought it was a gigantic mistake to not just take the $60 million that the Red Sox offered him to stay in Boston. I think we got the answer yesterday.
Nomah got a bit emotional pre, during and post game as he visited Fenway for the first time as a visitor. He praised the fans over and over again. He stated how he sees Red Sox fans everywhere to this day.
This type of situation gets me to thinking about what a career and to a greater extent a legacy means to some players as opposed to others.
I feel like a player who is moved from team to team at the end of their career really does have their legacy tarnished. I’m not sure that should be the case but when a player signs multiple 1-year deals and just becomes a mercenary it just can not seem as genuine to the home town fans.
Taking again from the A’s what about the case of Matt Holliday. He was a very good player in Colorado but in this day of Free Agency he had to be shipped off to Oakland so that the Rockies could get something, anything in return knowing that Holiday would go elsewhere in 2010. It just seems like it must feel crappy to be a hired hitman for a season while you put your long-term goals on hold.
Some players certainly do not care about that word; legacy. They want to play for a paycheck. Or on the other hand, even for the love of the game. Maybe Nomar realized that maybe that $60 mil wasn’t such an insult. Here is the video:
