Leading by example

Enter the interesting case of NBA Jerseys Jose Bautista, pencilled in as the No. 1 hitter this spring and manager Cito Gaston's top choice to open the season offensively on April 5 in Arlington, Texas.
And through the first seven games of the Grapefruit League schedule Bautista has done nothing but hit: collecting four doubles, three home runs and six RBI in his first 14 at-bats. The 22 total bases and a ridiculous 1.571 slugging percentage are both tops among all spring hitters.
Traditionally, the leadoff hitter showcases good strike zone awareness, ability to hit to all fields, above average speed and occasional power. Under that criteria Rickey Henderson and Ichiro Suzuki were, and are, the prototypical leadoff hitters. Make no mistake; people will never confuse Bautista with those current and future Hall of Famers. But on this Blue Jays roster, on a team that not a lot is expected of, and on a roster where few jobs are guaranteed, his sizzling start to the exhibition at least gives fans something to talk about.
Gaston has grown quite fond of the 29-year-old utility player. Bautista arrived in Toronto two months after Gaston returned to replace John Gibbons as Blue Jays manager in 2008. And although he has been a spare part during his 134 game career in Toronto, the departure of Marco Scutaro via free agency finally opened up a spot atop the Jays' batting order. Fresh in the manager's mind, also, is the fact that Bautista led all Blue Jays hitters with 10 home runs and 20 runs scored in the team's final 26 games last season.
While Bautista might not be an ideal lead-off hitter, his scorching bat, even though it's only spring training, needs to swing at as many pitches as possible.
Now let's not kid ourselves; based upon his career regular season stats no one in their right mind can expect Bautista to continue to hit at this clip in April -- certainly not from a guy who is a career .238 hitter. But at when examining his career splits, Bautista's average in the leadoff spot jumps up to .275, his best average in any spot in the order where he has more than 100 at-bats. Certainly, statistically, batting leadoff agrees with Bautista.
The line on the transactions page might have been overlooked if not for the length of the last name: Nomar Garciaparra. On Wednesday the all-star shortstop returned to where it all began, re-signing with the Red Sox a mere 16 years after the club selected him in the first round (12th overall) in the 1994 draft.
And then he retired.
At the height of his 14 season career, Garciaparra was one of the top hitters in the game. He was the 1997 American League Rookie of the Year thanks to a league-high 209 hits and five times finished in the top 10 of the MVP voting. He also won back to back batting titles in 1999 and 2000 and was named an All-Star six times. A solid career, indeed.
Now let's not kid ourselves; based upon his career regular season stats no one in their right mind can expect Bautista to continue to hit at this clip in April -- certainly not from a guy who is a career .238 hitter. But at when examining his career splits, Bautista's average in the leadoff spot jumps up to .275, his best average in any spot in the order where he has more than 100 at-bats. Certainly, statistically, batting leadoff agrees with Bautista.
But what Garciaparra will be remembered for the most was his quirkiness. Whether he was kissing his bat in the dugout before an at-bat, or tapping his toes numerous times in the batter's box during each plate appearance, he was just an odd duck. He also developed the first recorded case of OCBGA (Obsessive Compulsive Batting Glove Adjustment), in which, after every pitch, he would un-strap and strap his gloves numerous times at a blistering pace.

Baseball has long been a game of superstitions, but Garciaparra took it to the next level.
But for as good, statistically, as Nomar performed, he was always overshadowed at his position by his Yankees counterpart Derek Jeter. While Garciaparra was putting up some all-world numbers, Jeter was stock-piling World Series titles. And when the Red Sox finally vanquished the Yankees and went on to claim its first World Series championship in 2004, Garciaparra was nowhere to be found, having been traded at the July 31 deadline that season to the Cubs. For the remaining five seasons of his stellar career, Nomar did a lot more watching than playing as he made nine different trips to the disabled list after leaving Boston.