Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Nomar: Sox 1 Of 3 Teams That Can Win It All

Nomar At 2003 ALCS (FenwayNation Photo)
Red Sox icon Nomar Garciaparra thinks the Red Sox are one of three teams that can win the World Series this year. Based on late-seasons momentum, the former Red Sox shortstop thinks Boston, Detroit and the Dodgers are best suited to go all the way. Nomar picked the World Champion San Francisco Giants to win last year,  "I really gauge the postseason on the last couple of weeks of the season. I did this last year and said San Francisco, and people were looking at me like, ‘What?’ I could see they were hot, the momentum was on their side. They battled back in their games, and that was the same thing with the Cardinals the year before. This game is so much about momentum. Shoot, ask the guys on the Red Sox, ask David [Ortiz] about ’04. Everybody says, ‘We got hot at the right time.’" He also thinks current shortstop phenom Xander Bogaerts is on the perfect veteran-laden team to give him the kind of guidance he got from Mo Vaughn and company in his early years. He cautions, however, that the 20-year old Bogaerts needs room to grow, "People need to give him time. He has tremendous ability, both on the defensive and offensive side, but he’s so young." Garciaparra continues this year as an analyst for ESPN's Baseball Tonight.