Although Johnny Damon neither knows or cares, I've resented him for years. Fandom is irrational; so is the disdain toward a player who a fan has never met.
Playing for the Yankees this weekend, Damon continued his strong series against the Royals Sunday, tormenting his former employer.
Johnny Damon betrayed me. As a rookie, he was the Next George Brett, the first player of any significance that our farm system had created in ten years. We thought he would wear Royal Blue for a decade or more. Five years later, he was another player who left as quickly as he could.
I know I shouldn't blame him – he made more money and achieved more notoriety elsewhere. In other professions, I don’t boo anyone who leaves one job for a better one. Besides, Damon isn’t remotely the best player to leave the Royals for greener pastures. Jermaine Dye and Carlos Beltran are better players. Damon was a good but by no means great center fielder, and I know that a long-term contract for him would not have been the best use of the Royals’ limited resources.
But I despise Damon because he symbolizes the Royals’ recent impotence. No player in his right mind would have stayed here at that time – the team was going nowhere on or off the field. We aren't even the most high-profile team that Damon jilted in his career – Boston fans are angrier at Damon’s departure from the Red Sox.
That said, he still swings the bat with one hand and throws like my grandmother.
Showing 1-9 of 9
I was looking for articles about this on Google and chanced on your post. I found it to be really useful. Thanks
Paul, you did live here when George Brett played here, right?
Game 3, ALCS in 85' against the B-Jays. Greatest I've ever seen and any performance of Damon's doesn't come close.
Chris, "Mr. Hyperbole" is actually a much better nickname than my others, so I'll take it. Seriously, IF he plays long enough he will have the numbers. He is clearly still in his prime.
Shout to Royals front office if you are reading: my grad program last two years from this August. If you sign Johnny Damon to finish his career here I will move back even though I hate this city, and buy season tickets.
Greatest single performance I have ever witnessed on any field: Johnny Damon in 2000, sitting in right field GA with my pops, Damon went 5-5 with a triple short of the cycle and took away a home run to end the game. He is one of the greatest Royals of all time, and before too long with be one of the top 5 most well rounded players ever. Book it, Danno.
And Gus, I heard that CO2 stuff is bad. You might want to rethink that.
Gus: fixed. Yikes.
Paul: OH, c'mon, Mr. Hyperbole. Pete Rose, EXCEPT with more power and speed?!?
If Damon were to get in the HOF -- yikes. I'm going to take a wild guess he, like Boggs, will find a team that will give him a lot of $ to play his last years. Johnny Damon, inducted as a Devil Ray or Blue Jay?
"In other professional, I don�t boo anyone who leaves one job for a better one."
you put who in the whatnow?
my real point is this. The answer to WWJDD is always the opposite of what I would do. because of him, i take in c02 and exhale oxygen.
Take a look at Damon's page at baseball-reference.com. You're going to hate Damon even more when he is standing there in Cooperstown making his induction speech. The player he most closely resemebles in age 33 season: Pete Rose, except with more power and speed.
So long as Johnny stays away from the loan sharks and puts up five seasons similar to the last two, he'll end up as one of the most well-rounded players in the history of the game (including 9 straight 100 run seasons). And that's with just five more years. The guy stays in great shape and when he hits 38 he'll be right around 3,000 hits. He won't be that far off 300 HRs either, so if he goes into his 40s he'll be first ballot. There is a certain Royals Hall of Famer who accomplished the very same feat. Eerie.
I've always loved Damon, and I'll proudly wear whichever Jersey he goes into the Hall in - unless it's the Red Sox.
I've never understood the booing of Damon. He didn't leave. He was traded. Recent off-season activities have shown us that the means to keep at least one of the outfielders was there. The front office straight up lied to Dye and told him he wasn't going anywhere.
"a long-term contract for him would not have been the best use of the Royals� limited resources"
Exactly the problem. Without any reasonable form of profit sharing in MLB, the disparity between large market and small market teams will continue to grow.
If baseball doesn't fix this, it will become less and less relevant until it will finally die.
like
dislike
