Great article on Nomar from Howard Bryant. I really don’t understand why the Boston media often feels it has to villify superstars who get traded away - perhaps he was sulky, perhaps he wasn’t - does that mean he was an utterly awful person? Here’s Nomar on the Boston fans:
“There will always be a place for them there. Just because I’m not there doesn’t mean I’ll forget them. They were out there on my birthday, singing ‘Happy Birthday.’ Not just once, but every year. It was incredible. How many other players does that happen to?”
In the article, Nomar also points out that he did want the ring:
“I was saying, ‘Wait a minute. Time out.’ Are you kidding me?’’ he said of the Red Sox ring flap. “I was so happy for those guys. And I couldn’t tell you how I felt when the guy calls me and asked me for my ring size. My ring size? I mean, that was awesome. I got all excited, because I didn’t even know my ring size.”
The sad thing is because the initial idea - that he didn’t want the ring - has already been planted, a cynic could now say this is just PR - even though the original report was a hoax.