This column originally ran in The Standard-Times on Sept. 25, 2003.

By Nick Tavares
Standard-Times correspondent

He's gotten lost amid the breakout seasons of Millar Ortiz Mueller Nixon and Varitek but Nomar Garciaparra is still the MVP of the Red Sox.

Nomar has put together yet another superb season on par with his entire career leading the charge to the playoffs and beyond. He's been getting it done in the batters box and in the field building a foundation for the team's success.

At the plate his average has been in or around the AL's top ten all season. He's second in the league in runs and triples fifth in hits and his 26 home runs is up from last season. Add to that 37 doubles and a .523 slugging percentage and Nomar's still showing he's the best shortstop in team history.

On a team where offensive production has been among the best ever Nomar has been ahead of the pack. Despite driving in 897 runs as a team no one player had knocked 100 runners home until Nomar reached the mark Saturday.

Once again overshadowed by the theatrics of Ortiz and Nixon Garciaparra has produced late and in the clutch. Of his 76 extra-base hits 25 have come from the seventh inning on.

Often taken for granted is his contribution in the field as well. He has answered early season throwing problems with a .972 fielding percentage which is up seven points from last year. He's also committed seven fewer errors than he did in 2002. His digging out more groundballs for outs has helped both Derek Lowe and John Burkett who live and die by the grounder.