Short Biography

Anthony Nomar Garciaparra (born July 23, 1973, in Whittier, California) is an American Major League Baseball player for the Oakland Athletics. He previously played first base and third base for the Los Angeles Dodgers, and shortstop and third base for the Chicago Cubs, after a decade as an All-Star shortstop for the Boston Red Sox. He is the only player in Major League history to hit two grand slams during a single home game. Garciaparra is a six-time All-Star (1997, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2006). In five postseason series he has batted .323 with a slugging percentage of .625.

On November 22, 2003, Garciaparra married Olympian and World Cup Champion soccer star Mia Hamm. The couple have twin girls, Grace Isabella and Ava Caroline, who were born on March 27, 2007, in Los Angeles. Both he and Mia Hamm were on Olympic teams in their respective sports. Garciaparra was on the 1992 Olympic baseball team, and Hamm was on the 1996, 2000, and 2004 women`s Olympic soccer teams. Garciaparra uses the song "Low Rider" by War as his entrance music when he comes up to bat. To start the 2009 season, Garciaparra changed his entrance music when he comes up to bat to "O Fortuna" by Carl Orff. Garciaparra is known for his idiosyncratic tics when batting. This habit includes an elaborate routine of glove adjustments and alternating toe taps on the ground prior to an ensuing pitch. Garciaparra is the cousin of Arturo Javier Ledesma, a Mexican soccer player who currently plays for Club Deportivo Guadalajara. His uncle is legendary Mexican soccer goalkeeper, Javier "Zully" Ledesma. His brother, Michael Garciaparra, is a baseball player, playing first base for the Double-A Huntsville Stars. On the Kate Hudson/Radiohead episode on season 26 of Saturday Night Live, Garciaparra cameoed in a "Boston Teens" sketch. On October 8, 2005, Garciaparra and his uncle Victor were alerted to the screams of two women who had fallen into Boston Harbor outside his condominium. One of the women sustained injuries to her head after hitting the pier on her way in. Garciaparra quickly jumped into the harbor and saved both women, who were later taken to the hospital.

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