This guy looks like Nomar but is it really him?

LOS ANGELES -- This guy is walking around the Dodgers' clubhouse and the Dodger Stadium batting cage, and I swear I've seen him before. You have, too. He has those sausage thighs and that beak of a nose and when he steps into the batter's box he grinds each toe into the dirt, left and then right and then left, until he's ready to swing.

This all looks so familiar.

This isn't the same Nomar Garciaparra you knew back in the 90's. (Getty Images)

And then he swings, and he stops looking familiar. The guy I thought he was, that guy could really hit a baseball. This guy? This guy swings, and nothing happens. The ball doesn't explode off his bat. It's almost like he's swinging a Loofah sponge.

This guy can't be Nomar Garciaparra.

This guy can't get into the Hall of Fame. This guy can't even get onto the field. This guy can't be Nomar Garciaparra.

Nomar Garciaparra was one of the greatest players of his generation. Unanimous Rookie of the Year in 1997, nearly the American League MVP in 1998. Batting champion in 1999 and 2000.

Back in the day, Garciaparra was among the holy trinity of shortstops. It was Garciaparra and Jeter and A-Rod, and any order would do. Garciaparra was that good. By age 29, he had 1,231 hits, 173 home runs and 669 RBI. He was on pace for Cooperstown. By age 35, he was going to have something like 2,500 hits, 350 home runs and 1,300 RBI.

He turned 35 earlier this summer.

He has 1,702 hits. He has 226 home runs. He has 920 RBI.

He's not going to Cooperstown.

Pretty soon, he won't be in the big leagues any more. He has been put on the disabled list six times since 2006, and his batting average has plummeted from .303 to .283 to .264 this season.

Those are facts. What are the causes? Several possibilities come to mind, most nefariously the impact of steroids -- a possibility I discount, by the way.

The signs are there, however. Garciaparra put up his best offensive numbers during the steroid bonanza that was the late 1990s and early 2000s. That's one strike. His numbers have fallen off the face of the earth since steroid testing has been put into place. That's two strikes. And he has been brittle ever since, suffering a string of muscle and joint injuries that often befall athletes who have unnaturally bulked their body. Three strikes ... but the argument is out. And here's why I think so: