Having been in the stands for Ted Williams last home run in a Red Sox uniform, I will not try to hide my prejudices about all things baseball. I do have a ball from the Chisox bullpen, however, a gift from a fellow baseball aficionado who appreciated a talk I gave at a convention in Charlotte many moons ago. The fact that I kept it may give arguable evidence of my attempts at objectivity, as does the neatly folded Yankee pennant my neighbor deposited in my mailbox that I use as a coaster on my desk. Ahem.
While the initial trauma of the Damon defection may never reach the level of indignation I felt when Grady Little chose not to pull a tired Pedro Martinez in 2003, or the obvious lack of judgment exhibited by John MacNamara when he failed to make a defensive replacement for no knees Buckner at first base against the Mets in 1986 after routinely doing it all season, it still spoiled my day. Then again, it is just George money, not Carlton Fisk going to the White Sox in his prime. We will survive.
What Damon gives the Yankees may have been available to them for less than fifty two million, but alas, like a wealthy debutante, it is only money, dear. A different outcome could have left the Red Sox to lament another forty million dollar mistake for a player with diminishing skills. Thank you Yankees for wanting a take away as badly as you wanted a get. Now you own another over paid untradable player for four years and give Toronto the opening it craved to crawl back into the race. Maybe it will work out, for Toronto I mean.
Do not get me wrong. I would prefer seeing Damon in the Boston center field for the next couple of years, but a Damon claim that he walked away from a sixty five million dollar offer from another team to sign with the Bombers can only mean it was Canadian play money. A false analogy if one is comparing apples to apples. At a thirty percent (last time I looked) exchange rate it equals less than fifty five mil for two more years. Third best by far depending on your forex agent. In truth, he is grasping at any available excuse to justify the betrayal he said would never happen as he tries to convince the Boston faithful that he was not sufficiently wanted on the Fenway. The Red Sox offer was most generous under the circumstances, and given the chance, they might have matched the Yankee excess, but the truth is, they blinked. Besides, it is now obvious after several bumbling news conferences that Damon really wanted to be a Yankee all along. Remember, the Red Sox won more regular season games without Pedro than they ever won with him and the Mets were not a better team with his addition. That may again play out.
They understood full well in Luckyland that this could happen. The odds were mathematically analyzed and a win/loss scenario developed. The Red Sox tried a similar coup with Bernie Williams one big contract for him ago and succeeded only in raising the price for Bernie as a noncommissioned service. They may have unintentionally done it again. Team Damon was Borasized by the agent and his promises of unlimited bling into irrational expectations as he likewise hypnotized the Boston brass into a semicoma of wait and see. Boras wants to be wanted most in New York where the big money is. They will never love Johnny in New York the way they loved him in Boston, but I am sensing a theme among some of the players on this front. Today a player wants fame, wealth, glory, and public anonymity. A conundrum possible only in New York.
Damon is fast afoot, but not near as fast as he once was, evidenced by his occasional lapses on the base paths last season and the no longer routine long-run catches that sometimes became Sport Center highlights. Now it is true the Red Sox tend not to choose stealing bases as a big part of their offensive scheme, so the fact that Dear John has lost a step may not be obvious to the general baseball populace, but it should be to the Yankee front office. Yankee fans will notice a difference between Bernie and his gazelle like gracefulness and flat-footed Damon who dashes about and his awkward girl like throwing motion. If Damon was so desirable, tell me why the Dodgers, Cubs, Mets, Giants or Cardinals did not take a shot at him. They all need a quality outfielder and hunger for a ring.
Damon will get on base and take the extra base. Here the statistics do not lie. However, there have been vision concerns following two concussions in one year. Rumor is he peeked between the fingers on his last eye exam. The short right field porch of Ruth may indeed increase his home run production as he proved when he drove the stake into the enemy in game seven in 2004, but that clutch performance was the exception more than the rule. Red Sox fans are eternally thankful regardless.
Damon has an adequate glove, but several face first collisions with the angular center field fence in Boston and with an anonymous shortstop skull that disabled him for a while have made him more tentative in a crowd. This past season saw balls jump between his legs like croquet hoops more frequently than before. Ramirez led the team in outfield assists despite the assumption he played under Damon's cover.
Lest you think I'm laying it on thick, Yankee fans will be surprised to learn that Damon has a throwing arm that is no better than Bernie. I lie not. Ask the Red Sox pitchers who routinely watched runners take the extra base on hits to center. I suspect the Yankees will eventually put Damon in left and Matsui in center lengthening his career and shortening that of Matsui unless the agent inserted positional guarantees in his new contract. Damon belongs in right now just like Bernie Williams did, but it is doubtful Sheffield would move for the team, especially in a contract year.
In all, I wish the Yankees luck with their investments, but I think they would have been better served by stronger defense up the middle and a young pitcher. They paid fifty two mil for his on base percentage and to take him away from the Red Sox, but maybe the Red Sox will not be the competition. Accusations of venomous bitterness from the home of the Tea Party are ridiculous. We all liked the person. Besides, between this and Epstien, Mr. Luchino could well have worked himself out of job security in the ravenous Boston sports market. The impromptu news conference the day after the press released the bad news spoke to that. The upcoming season will tell.
Have no doubt that the departure of Epstein temporarily disrupted the confidence level in the Red Sox clubhouse. His rumored return would signal the soon to follow departure of the choleric Luchino despite denials across the board. Denials are not required for an event that is not going to happen.
Damon as a man is a good hearted, generous, fun loving person whose departure creates a noticeable void on the Boston bench. His longhaired inarticulate persona fit well and lovably in the idiotized Red Sox clubhouse--a marketing approach popularized by free agent Kevin Millar (a potentially good DH for the Yankees). But in the end, the allure of a reunion with his rehabilitated Oakland bud, Giambi, and Broadway glitter was more than he could resist. Who could really blame him.
For players, New York is a place to make piles of cash and get a ring. It is also a pressure cooker. The Yankee roster remains one of the oldest in baseball making a deep bench and bullpen more than a luxury. Between the high payroll and the depleted farm system, neither are present, making the euphoria coming from New York fandom more about the Red Sox than reality. Other teams with few exceptions cannot afford to trade with the Yankees, and despite the burdensome payroll, there have been no rings lately. Without more pitching, the Damon acquisition will do little to change the mood in Tampa or the post season results in New York.
The affaire Damon now adds one more chapter to the storied history of the Yankees and Red Sox. Never has any sports rivalry contributed more to any sport. No competitive event since the gladiators of Rome has filled more stadium seats with crazed fans, nor tested the metal and skill of the participants more than the games between the evil empire of George versus the Tom frumps of Bean Town. It is fun, and that is what baseball should be all about. Winning is good too.
Do you think Theo would come back for a Ted Williams, a Bill Monbouquette, and two Jackie Jensens? How about if I threw in a Frank Malzone and the ashes from a Bucky Dent?
