My cousin-in-law, a transplanted New

My cousin-in-law, a transplanted New Yorker in Boston and now a Red Sox fan, said to me last weekend that Nomar is the “softest .320 hitter in the game”. I am starting to think the same. The guy is SOOO predictable at the plate. He’s obviously a good hitter, because there are lots of hackers who can’t hit their weight and Nomar is way above that, but he is just too easy to pitch to when the game is on the line. You KNOW he’s swinging at pitch #1, which is a pretty solid advantage for a pitcher to have. I am not going to get in on a Jeter vs. Garciaparra pure numbers analysis, because I think I know who is, on the surface, a better producer. But I think I would be inclined to pinch hit Jeter for Nomar in the late going if I had the option. (On the other hand, I’d pinch hit a bunch of guys for Derek if I had that option, Manny, Magglio, Barry, Leyritz, Pags, etc. – I still have reservations about DJ’s K ratio, but you know the deal…)