Nomar Garciaparra reflected on being dealt by Red Sox at 2004 MLB trade deadline

"There was some sadness there. But at the same time, there was also some happiness because I know what it meant."

On July 31, 2004, the Red Sox took a momentous step toward winning a World Series for the first time in 86 years by completing a blockbuster trade.

Of course, at the time that then-superstar shortstop Nomar Garciaparra was sent to the Cubs as part of a trade deadline deal, many Boston fans viewed it as anything but a step in the right direction.

Yet as beloved as Garciaparra was (and remains) in Boston, the deal ultimately worked out positively for the Red Sox. Both players acquired in return (Doug Mientkiewicz and Orlando Cabrera) went on to help the team win its first World Series since 1918.

But the decision to send Garciaparra out of Boston on the brink of what became an iconic championship run remains one of the few bitter pills for Red Sox fans looking back on that magical season.

What of Garciaparra’s thoughts on the issue? The ex-shortstop recent discussed the trade — with its 20th anniversary approaching — in an interview with Sean McAdam of MassLive.

“To reflect back? I don’t know that I really have,” Garciaparra acknowledged. “People ask or talk about my time [in Boston], and I always say I have wonderful memories. I’m grateful for that. I know what I did, what I gave, which is everything I had.”

At the time, Garciaparra refused to try and place the trade into larger context, preferring to keep himself focused on the short term.

“It’s just kind of one of those where, after it’s done, you can’t reflect right then,” he noted. “You’re traded and it’s like, ‘OK, gotta go win, gotta go play.’ I remember doing that. That’s just the focus. It’s like, ‘Alright, no looking back; it’s just looking forward.'”

Now a member of the Dodgers’ broadcast team, Garciaparra spoke candidly about the 2004 season.

On the topic of the World Series win, Garciaparra offered some additional information about his relationship with teammates following the deal that sent him to Chicago.

“I feel part of that,” he told McAdam of Boston’s 2004 title, “and what people don’t know is, [former teammates] made me feel part of it, too.

“They were calling me in the playoffs, on the bus, after they won a game. I’d get phone calls from the guys,” Garciaparra recalled. “Trot [Nixon] would call me, I’d hear Johnny [Damon] in the background, asking, ‘Did you see what we did?’ And I was like, ‘Oh, I’m watching, fellas. I know what you’re going to do.'”

Though he was gone from the roster months before the World Series was won, Garciaparra has maintained his perspective on the larger impact he played in Boston.

That said, he admitted feeling a degree of sadness to not ultimately have been a part of a Red Sox title.

“I was actually just happy. Saddened? Yeah, that I wasn’t there, a part of it and experiencing it, definitely,” said Garciaparra. “There was some sadness there. But at the same time, there was also some happiness because I know what it meant.

“And I also know that winning the World Series wasn’t done in a year,” he added. “The 2003 season was a huge reason why they won it…2002, 2001, 1999, 1998…all the seasons that we were building toward it. If we’re not good enough, you don’t get the [necessary] pieces for 2004, that want to come over to help you get there. All those years were a culmination. And I know I was a big part of those years.”

What Boston fans might not have realized while in Boston (and for the rest of his career), Garciaparra dealt with issues that went beyond regular injuries.

“In Boston, I gave everything I had,” he said. “Some of the stuff I live with now, the aches and pains, there are things I can’t do because of everything I sacrificed and gave. Would I do it different? No.”

Garciaparra explained that he discovered he had Popliteal Artery Entrapment Syndrome, a condition that affects blood flow to the lower body. The former shortstop outlined what the syndrome means for him. Specifically, that he “physically can’t run” anymore.

But rather than feel sorry for himself, Garciaparra took an opposite viewpoint.

“Even with that, I was able to play [14 seasons] in the big leagues. So I don’t think about, ‘What if I hadn’t had this?’ I’m like, man, how lucky am I? Even with this, I got to play this friggin’ long. It could have been even shorter.”