OTISFIELD — He was traded three months before the curse was lifted.

The twilight of his career included relatively forgettable stops in Chicago, Los Angeles and Oakland.

But by the grace of a one-day contract and the fans who long fancied themselves on a first-name basis with him, Nomar Garciaparra will be identified with the Boston Red Sox for eternity.

Garciaparra, 37, donned his familiar No. 5 one final time and threw out the ceremonial first pitch at a Red Sox game earlier this year. The crowd sealed the reunion with a long ovation, restoring the retired shortstop’s status as a folk hero.

“That was the uniform that meant so much to me,” said Garciaparra, who appeared Thursday with his wife, soccer great Mia Hamm, at Seeds of Peace camp. “I wanted to finish my career in that uniform, and I was able to do it.”

A six-time all-star, Garciaparra was runner-up in American League MVP voting in 1998, when he hit 35 home runs and amassed 122 RBIs.

He was the league’s batting champion in 1999 and 2000 before a wrist injury sidelined him the next year.

Garciaparra was the marquee player in a four-team deal at the 2004 trading deadline. He wound up with the Cubs while Orlando Cabrera and Doug Mientkiewicz came to Boston.

The Red Sox rallied to a wild-card berth and an unforgettable seven-game rally past the Yankees for the AL pennant.

It was Cabrera who started at shortstop throughout the playoffs and Mientkiewicz who recorded the final out at first base as Boston won its first World Series in 86 years.

Garciaparra received a World Series ring. He never returned to Boston with an American League rival until Oakland visited in 2009.

The Fenway Park crowd foreshadowed this year’s homecoming with a warm reaction.

“The fans have always been so wonderful to me, and I’ve always appreciated that. Once again they’ve left me with a lifetime of memories,” Garciaparra said.

Hamm, who retired from her sport in 2004, said she didn’t persuade her husband to retire or offer any unsolicited advice.

“He’s a competitor, so I think there’s always a part when he sees his friends out there and the teams he played for. You can never turn that competitive spirit off, but I think he enjoys being home,” Hamm said.

“I told him it has to be your decision. You just have to feel good about it. When he made that decision, I saw a peace about it. And as someone who loves him and cares about him the way that I do, that’s all I could ask for.”

Garciaparra has earned critical acclaim as a first-year baseball analyst for ESPN.

He spent most of Thursday chasing around the couple’s twin daughters, another activity at which he seems to be a natural.

“I’ve got kids that I spend more time with now,” he said. “That’s what it’s all about now. I don’t miss (baseball) too much when I get to look at them every day.”

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