01:00 AM EDT on Thursday, July 8, 2004

BOSTON -- No more Nomar?

It's not a pleasant prospect to ponder.

Not just because A-Rod won't be coming in to replace him. But also because it would take a player of Alex Rodriguez's caliber -- or Derek Jeter's -- to fill Garciaparra's spikes.

He is not the most charismatic of superstars -- Jeter and A-Rod both exceed Nomar in that category, too.

As a matter of fact, so does the popular Pokey Reese, who was greeted by chants of "Po-key! Po-key!" when, after coming in as a late-inning, defensive replacement for Garciaparra at shortstop last night, he came to bat in the bottom of the eighth.

And struck out looking.

There had been no chants of "No-mar! No-mar!"

Not even after Garciaparra lined a homer into the bleachers in dead center leading off the second inning, becoming, as a result, only the seventh player in Red Sox history to amass 500 extra-base hits in his career in Boston.

On his next trip to the plate, leading off the third, Nomar made it 501, drilling a double.

Still, the fans were delighted to see Reese in the game. And don't think the hyper-sensitive Nomar didn't notice.

For better or, in the case of his relationship with the Red Sox, worse, Garciaparra takes most things -- everything? -- personally.

So it's hardly surprising that his not-inconsiderable nose is considerably out of joint right now, to the point where it seems highly likely that his highly-successful career in Boston will come to an end at the end of this season.

The Sox tried to sign him in the spring of 2003, when he still had two years remaining on a contract they already had previously extended and sweetened after his spectacular rookie season in 1997.

Nomar was Rookie of the Year at the age of 24, batting .306, with 30 homers, a league-leading 11 triples, and 98 RBI. That was a taste of things to come, as his numbers, and his play, continued to improve.

He hit .323 in '98, with career-highs in homers (35) and RBI (122). The next two seasons, he led the American League in batting, hitting .357 in 1999 and a career-high .372 in 2000.

A wrist injury that required surgery kept Garciaparra out of all but 21 games in 2001, but he came back strong in 2002, batting .310, hitting 24 homers, and driving in 120 runs in 156 games.

After which, he was offered a four-year contract worth $60 million. Not enough, he said, and then went out and hit .301, with 28 homers and 105 RBI last season.

What took much of the luster from those numbers, however, was that Nomar struggled badly down the stretch, batting just .170 in September and driving in only one run in Boston's 12 postseason playoff games.

It seems as if he's been struggling ever since, both physically and emotionally.

He was on his honeymoon with soccer superstar Mia Hamm when he learned the Sox were trying to make a deal that would bring A-Rod to Boston and send him to the White Sox.

First, the Red Sox didn't want to pay him. Now, they were trying to trade him.

Then, in spring training, he was bothered by tendinitis in his right Achilles tendon that was not, at first, believed to be terribly serious. As it turned out, he had to sit out the first 57 games of the season, amidst rumors he wasn't exactly busting his butt to get back into the lineup because he was miffed about his perceived mistreatment by the Boston front office.

The low point came last week in New York when, after going 7-for-38 in his previous nine games, he sat out the final game of what turned out to be a three-game sweep by the Yankees.

While Garciaparra sat in the dugout all 13 innings of that demoralizing loss, Jeter went diving into the stands after making a spectacular catch that crushed a Boston scoring threat.

The contrast couldn't have been more striking, especially after, despite Sox manager Terry Francona's protestations to the contrary, it was whispered that Garciaparra didn't want to play.

Since then, Nomar has been playing with a vengeance.

Perhaps his pride was stung. Maybe it was the wake-up call he needed, a figurative splash of cold water in the face. It may have been more like a slap in the face. Whatever the reason, Garciaparra has been on a tear since then, with 11 hits, including two homers, in 22 at-bats, raising his average to .300.

"He's swinging the bat real good," Ron "Papa Jack" Jackson, the Boston hitting coach, said after last night's second straight rout of Oakland.

"He's not trying to do too much. He's just staying up the middle and letting his ability take over.

"He's a great hitter, a great athlete," Jackson said. "You had to know he'd come around eventually.

"He may have been trying to do too much. When you're not doing your job like you want to do, you start pressing a little. That's human nature. He'd never failed before."

Afterwards, Garciaparra didn't want to talk about himself.

"I'm not worried about myself," he said, after tossing a few verbal bouquets toward winning pitcher Pedro Martinez. "I'm only worried about the team."

Johnny Damon, like most of Garciaparra's teammates, is worried that Nomar won't be with the team next year.

"That's Theo's job," said Damon, referring to Boston's 30-year-old general manager, Theo Epstein. "We like what we're seeing of Nomar right now. He's been 'Mr. Boston.' He deserves to be here to win a championship. Hopefully, he'll be here his whole career. But we'll leave that up to ownership to see what they do."

They could sign him. But it appears unlikely that the Sox would come up with enough money to soothe Nomar's hurt feelings and bruised ego.

No Nomar? It's not a pleasant prospect to ponder. But Boston fans have to think this season is the last they'll see of Garciaparra in a Red Sox uniform.