Johnny Damon

From SoSH

Johnny David Damon was born on November 5, 1973 in Fort Riley, KS. The 6'2", 205 lb centerfielder wore #18 for the Red Sox, where he played from 2002 to 2005. He bats left, throws left, and holds his pitchfork with his right hand.

Contents 1 Overall Career 2 Passion of the Centerfielder 3 Moment in the Sun 4 Trivia 5 Quotes 6 External Links

Overall Career

Damon was drafted by the Kansas City Royals in the first round of the 1992 draft and made his major league debute in 1995. Of the six years Damon spent in KC, the final year was his most impressive, when he hit .327 with an OBP of .382 and a SLG of .495. As a reward, Damon was sent out of Kansas City to a real major league team as part of a three-way deal. The Oakland Athletics traded Ben Grieve, a player to be named later or cash to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and A.J. Hinch, Angel Berroa and cash to the Kansas City Royals. KC traded Johnny Damon, Mark Ellis and a player to be named later to Oakland. Tampa Bay traded Cory Lidle to Oakland and Roberto Hernandez to Kansas City. Following a down year in Oakland, Damon signed with the Red Sox as a free agent. It was as a Red Sock that he gained widespread popularity, playing a key part in the Red Sox playoff drives of 2003 and 2004. After a tumulutuous 2005, Damon signed a four-year deal with the New York Yankees for $52 million, claiming that the Red Sox offer of four years for $40 million was "disrespectful."

A phenomenal leadoff hitter, Damon is a threat on the basepaths. In his final year in KC, he set a personal record with 46 stolen bases. When he's completely healthy, he has an above average glove, but is known for his extremely weak arm.

Passion of the Centerfielder

Known as well for his looks and he is for his numbers, the reasoning behind Damon's once Christ-like locks dates back to the 2003 ALDS vs Oakland. Chasing a Jermaine Dye fly ball, Damon and second baseman Damian Jackson collided in shallow center. Damon suffered a concussion and missed Games 1 and 2 of the ALCS. The following season, Damon arrived at Spring Training looking like an extra from "Passion of the Christ," and claimed that the concussion had left him too lazy to cut his hair. Teammates nicknamed him "The Passion," and soon the city of Boston was swept up in Johnny Mania.

Moment in the Sun

• Hit a Grand Slam off Javier Vázquez in the 2nd inning of Game 7 of the 2004 ALCS. The Sox never trailed again for the remainder of the playoffs.
• Became the first Yankee centerfielder in three months to require two cutoff men to reach 2nd base.
• Arm is so weak that Carl Crawford once tagged up and scored on him... from second base.

Trivia

• In 2005, he and Peter Golenbock co-wrote Idiot: Beating the Curse and Enjoying the Game of Life, an embarassing account of his life as a complete moron.
• As a rookie in 1996, he hit in every spot in the order.
• Appeared in the movie Fever Pitch as himself.

Quotes

• "Even being mentioned in the same sentence as Jesus or God- I mean, those guys are awesome." - March 2005

• "There's no way I can go play for the Yankees, but I know they are going to come after me hard. It's definitely not the most important thing to go out there for the top dollar, which the Yankees are going to offer me. It's not what I need." - May 2005

• "It was a very tough decision, but New York came after me aggressively and that's what sealed the deal. They showed they really wanted me." - December 20, 2005

• "When you got down toward the end of the season, that’s all you heard about…‘Do you believe in the curse?’ ‘Is the curse overtaking the team?' Since Dan Shaughnessy is the guy who invented this curse nonsense in the first place, I find it kind of odd that he keeps talking about it. He’s a bright guy. I can’t believe he actually believes it. I guess the Curse of the Bambino has a better ring to it than the Curse of Dan Shaughnessy.” - Excerpt from Idiot

External Links

• Baseball-Reference.com - Career Statistics and Analysis
• Damon Fan Site