#104 Nomar Mazara - Texas Rangers

Welcome back!

I was going to start this blog with card #1 and stay in order until the end, but after sorting the cards, I realized they were grouped in chunks by team. Not all the way through, but enough to make a couple days in a row, or even a week's worth of posts all the same team a little boring. So I headed over to the randomizer and the first four numbers are this week's cards. I'll do this every week, only overriding the randomizer to avoid back-to-back teammates.

As I mentioned in the welcome post, I'm going to keep the commentary to a mimimum and let the research do the talking. So here we go...

Player: Nomar Mazara (Baseball Reference) (Wikipedia)

Card Number: 104 (Trading Card Database)

Team: Texas Rangers

Division: American League West

Position: OF

Jersey Number: 30 (Not shown)
RC/Future Stars/Topps Rookie Cup: No

Source Photo

ARLINGTON, TX - JULY 28: Nomar Mazara #30 of the Texas Rangers fields a fly ball in the third inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Globe Life Park in Arlington on July 28, 2017 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Rick Yeatts/Getty Images)

Game Date: July 28, 2017
Opponent: Baltimore Orioles
Stadium: Globe Life Park in Arlington
Home/Away: Home
Game Outcome: Rangers 8, Orioles 2
Win/Loss: Win
Player Game Line: 3-4, 2 Runs, 2 RBI, 3 Doubles
Photographer: Rick Yeatts (Website) (Twitter)
New Team/Photoshopped?: No

Birthdate: April 26, 1995

Birthplace: Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

Bats: Left

Throws: Left

MLB Service Years: 2

Social Media Handles: (Twitter) (Instagram)

Something I learned from this card: There are generals in the Dominican Republic Navy. Well, no, there are not, at least according to Wikipedia. The rank of General is used in their Army and Air Force but similar to the US Navy, the highest rank in the Navy is the Admiral. 

Also, I somehow missed the memo that the Rangers no longer play in the The Ballpark at Arlington, as the name has changed a few times in the past 14 years.

This is Mazara's second Opening Day card, following last year's.

Mazara was featured in Series 1. However, Topps used a different photo for Opening Day. The card below was used in Series 1 and the Factory Team set.

Cubs Ties?: Nothing jumps out at me, though admittedly I presumed he was named after Nomar Garciaparra, the Cubs shortstop in 2004-2005. Garciaparra, whose middle name is actually Nomar, was famously named after his father (Ramon backwards). However, Mazara was born more than a year prior to Garciaparra making his MLB debut. The latter was born and raised in California and therefore unlikely to have been a big name in the Dominican Republic at the time.

Mazara has played in one, three-game series against the Cubs on July 15-17, 2016 going 1-9, with two walks.

I hope you enjoyed this detailed look at a common baseball card. I am very open to feedback and constructive criticism. If there is something you would find interesting to discuss or have me track, compare or contrast, please let me know!