Nomar Garciaparra
One of the premier shortstops of his era, Garciaparra led the American League in hits and triples as a rookie in 1997, then led the league in average in 1999 and 2000. But in 2001, he re-aggravated an old wrist injury, limiting him to 21 games. Following two more All-Star seasons, an Achilles injury kept him out for half of 2004. Though he put together another All-Star campaign in 2007, he was never the same player again.