Johnny Damon

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Johnny David Damon (born November 5, 1973, in Fort Riley, Kansas) is a Major League Baseball outfielder and plays for the New York Yankees. Since the 2000 season, through 2008, he was 3rd among active major leaguers in runs (589), and 7th in hits (912) and stolen bases (153).

[edit] Early years

Damon was born in Fort Riley, Kansas, though he spent most of his early years in Thailand.^[1] His mother, Yome, is from Thailand and his father, Jimmy, is American of Croatian and Irish descent. They met while his father, a staff sergeant in the United States Army, was stationed in Thailand. Johnny, their 2nd child (after James, Jr.), was born at Ft. Riley, an Army base in Kansas. Johnny spent much of his early childhood as an "Army brat," moving to several bases from Okinawa, Japan, to West Germany before his father left the Army and settled the family in the Orlando area while Johnny was still a pre-schooler.^[2]

Damon was a quiet child, largely on account of a stuttering problem. "My thoughts just raced ahead of my tongue," says Damon of his problem then. "I’d sing songs as therapy, and I got better, but I just kept quiet most of the time." ^[3] Damon attended Dr. Phillips High School in Orlando, Florida when during his senior year in 1992, he was rated the top high school prospect in the country by Baseball America, was named to USA Today's High School All-America team, and was the Florida Gatorade Player of the Year. Damon also played football in high school, once getting hit by Warren Sapp and sustaining the first concussion in his life.

[edit] Playing career

[edit] Kansas City Royals

Damon was selected by the Kansas City Royals in the first round (35th overall) of the 1992 amateur draft. He made his Major League debut on August 12, 1995. He played for the Royals from 1995 to 2000. His best season came in 2000 when he led the American League in runs with 136 and stolen bases with 46.

[edit] Oakland Athletics

Damon spent 2001 with the Oakland Athletics. In a three-way trade involving the A's, Royals, and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, the A's received Damon along with pitcher Cory Lidle from the Devil Rays and second baseman Mark Ellis from the Royals.

In 2001 he was 3rd in the league in at bats (644) and 7th in runs (108). Damon was involved in a very unusual play during the 2001 season. On August 8, 2001, in a game in Oakland against the Red Sox, Damon hit a liner down the right field lines and the ball rolled into a beer cup. The hit was ruled a ground rule double. Had the ball not been stuck in the cup, that play would have very likely been a triple.

[edit] Boston Red Sox

Johnny Damon, second from left, jokes with players before Spring Training game, 2005.

Damon signed a 4-year, $32 million contract with the Boston Red Sox on December 21, 2001. ^[4]

In 2002 Damon led the league in triples (11), and was 3rd in infield hits (25). He became the inaugural American League All-Star Final Vote.^[5]

On June 27, 2003, Damon became only the second major leaguer in the modern era (since 1900) to record 3 base hits in an inning, when he did so against the Florida Marlins.^[6]

In 2004, he was 2nd in the league in runs (123). Damon began to re-establish himself among the premier lead-off hitters and center fielders in the game. In arguably his best season in the Major Leagues, Damon batted .304 with 20 home runs and 94 RBIs, and showed improved patience at the plate. According to Damon's autobiography, he was only the 4th leadoff batter in the history of Major League Baseball to ever drive in more than 90 runs in a season.

In 2004, Damon was a key player in helping the Boston Red Sox win their first championship in 86 years. In game seven of the 2004 ALCS he hit two home runs (including a grand slam), to lead the Red Sox to victory over the Yankees. In the World Series he also hit a home run as Boston swept the St. Louis Cardinals.

Through his 4-year career with the Red Sox (2002-2005), Damon appeared in 597 games (590 of them as the center fielder, and 7 as a designated hitter)^[7] and hit 56 home runs.^[8] Of his 2476 at bats in a Boston uniform, 2259 of them were as their leadoff hitter. Damon batted 2nd in the lineup for 156 at bats in 2002, accounting for nearly all of the rest except for occasional pinch hitting appearances. Damon did start two games as the Red Sox' # 3 hitter in 2004. In 2005, his final season with the Red Sox, Damon had 624 at bats, and all but 3 were as the leadoff hitter. He also earned his 2nd All-Star selection in 2005, as the American League's starting center fielder.^[9] He led the AL with 35 infield hits,^[10] and hit 35 doubles in both the 2004 and 2005 seasons.^[8]

[edit] New York Yankees

On December 20, 2005, Damon signed a 4 year, $52 million contract with the New York Yankees.^[4] The Red Sox stood firm on a 3 year contract and chose not to negotiate against a 5 year deal proposed by agent Scott Boras. With the Yankees limited time offer and Theo Epstein's sudden resignation, Boras urgently attempted to contact team president Larry Luchino after failing to hear from the new co-general managers but the Red Sox stood firm on their 3 year offer. Damon's signing with the Yankees led to his being subsequently vilified by many Red Sox fans because of his previously professed loyalty to the city and Red Sox organization. One held up a sign saying: "Johnny, you really are an Idiot".^[11](In reaction to Damon's light-hearted characterization of the 2004 Red Sox as being a "bunch of idiots"). The Loren & Wally Show of WROR took to calling him "Juan Damón." Damon is the 3rd star Red Sox player in 12 years to "switch sides" and sign a contract with the Yankees, the others being Wade Boggs and Roger Clemens (though Clemens played with the Toronto Blue Jays in between his stints with the Red Sox and Yankees) who were also booed by Red Sox fans after they appeared back in Fenway Park in a Yankees uniform. Damon was even quoted before his departure from the Red Sox as saying, "There's no way I can go play for the Yankees, but I know they're 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."^[12] In an October 1, 2005 interview with Damon's wife, Michelle, she stated, "I can't see him in a Yankees uniform....This could be his last contract, it could be his retirement, his future, his kids' future. But New York? No. Boston would really have to hurt his feelings."^[13] He joined the Yankees only months later. As a result of this seeming indiscretion, a favorite T-shirt was seen in the Boston area which read, "Looks like Jesus. Acts like Judas. Throws like Mary." Another Red Sox T-shirt read, "Hey New York, you took our village idiot!"

As the Yankees have a strict dress code for players forbidding both long hair and some facial hair, Damon had his hair and beard cut on December 22.

During the first Yankee-Red Sox game of the 2006 season on May 1, Johnny Damon was cheered for his first plate appearance by some fans, whom he saluted. After that plate appearance, he was booed by Fenway fans everywhere. He went 0-for-4. A minority of fans cheered Damon when he tipped his hat to his old team's dugout and then to the rest of the Fenway crowd.^[14] Reflecting on his return to Fenway, Damon remarked, "I love Boston and I always will. I'll always have terrific memories and great fans here. Those fans [that booed] are just the kind of people who wish they were in my spot -- they really do. They've got no class, but that only speaks for a few of them." However, a few months later, he was quoted as saying in an interview, "Moving to New York was the best decision I ever made. Now I'm in a place that actually wants me." Damon may have been referring to the fans that booed him, or to the organization itself for not offering him more money, which he also said was of little importance to him months earlier.^[15]

In a pivotal 5-game series between the Yankees and Red Sox at Fenway Park, Damon went 3-for-6 in each of the first 3 games, including a doubleheader on Friday August 18, and a game on Saturday August 19. Damon hit 2 home runs, drove in 8 runs, and scored 8 runs in the first 3 games as the Yankees won them by a combined score of 39-20, and dealt a severe blow to the Red Sox' play-off aspirations for that season.

In 2006 Damon finished 3rd in runs (115) and 9th in stolen bases (25) in the AL, while hitting 24 home runs, his career high. He also tied his mark of 35 doubles from the previous two seasons.^[8] He was only one of 4 players in the major leagues to hit at least 24 home runs and steal at least 24 bases (along with Soriano (46/41), Rollins (25/36), and Byrnes (26/25).

On Opening Day in 2007, Damon was temporarily sidelined due to calf problems. He did not, however, go on the disabled list for his leg problems. After Yankees designated hitter Jason Giambi was placed on the disabled list, Johnny Damon filled the role of DH for him. Melky Cabrera began filling in for Damon, and replaced Damon as the Yankees starting center fielder. Damon then transferred to left field during the middle part of the season. He ended up hitting 27 doubles for the season.^[8]

On December 13, 2007, ESPN wrongly accused Damon of being in the Mitchell Report. They had reported hours before the report was released that his name was in the document. When it came out, his name was nowhere to be found.

On June 7, 2008, Damon went 6 for 6 in the Yankees 12-11 win over the Kansas City Royals, including a walk-off ground-rule double, which had bounced over the wall. He is the first Yankee to have 6 hits in a 9 inning game since Myril Hoag accomplished the feat in 1934.^[16] Damon said in a post-game on-field interview that this was his first walk-off as a Yankee. He was also the first player to have 6 hits in Yankee Stadium since Omar Vizquel (who was then a Cleveland Indian) did it on August 31, 2004.^[17]

On July 6, 2008 (retroactive to July 5th), The Yankees placed Damon on the 15-day disabled list for the first time in his Major League career with a bruised AC joint in his left shoulder. The injury occurred a day earlier when Damon collided with the outfield wall in an attempt to catch a triple hit by Red Sox first baseman Kevin Youkilis. At that time, Damon (along with Brad Ausmus, and Derek Lowe) was one of only three active major league ballplayers who had played at least 10 years in the majors without ever going on the disabled list.^[18] He returned to active duty, and again hit 2 doubles for the season.^[8] Damon has hit 8.5 home runs in his three seasons with the Yankees.^[8]

[edit] Career earnings

As of 2008 season

[edit] Postseason

Over his career in the postseason, Damon has hit .278 with 5 home runs and 16 RBI with the A's, Red Sox, and Yankees.

[edit] Awards

Damon batting at Coors Field in June 2007

• 1993 - Midwest League All-Star OF
• 1994 - Carolina League All-StarC Royals Minor League Player of the Year
• 1995 - Baseball America 1st team Minor League All-Star OF
• 1995 - Texas League Most Valuable Player
• 1995 - KC Royals Minor League Player of the Year
• 1995 - AA All-Star OF
• 1995 - AA Player of the Year
• 1995 - Texas League All-Star OF
• 2000 - KC Royals Player of the Year
• 2002 - All-Star (Inaugural American League All-Star Final Vote winner)
• 2005 - Baseball America 2nd-Team All-Star OF
• 2005 - All-Star

[edit] Exercise routine

As a part of his exercise routine, Johnny admits to pursuing cars from one end of his block to the other on foot. "I live on a street (in the Orlando area) where the speed limit is 25 miles an hour and the police enforce it. At night, I'd wait out there and when a car came by I would race the car home, so I think I can go at least 25 miles an hour. I scared some of the people, seeing a caveman racing after cars," said Damon in a Providence newspaper article early in 2004.

He has also said: "I do naked pull-ups" moments before game time in the team's locker room.^[19]

Damon on The Late Show with David Letterman said, "Oh yeah, I got another one for ya. When I was younger I would run as fast as I could up a tree and stay there until people got worried and didn't know I was up there. But, most of the time I would just come down because no one was looking for me."

[edit] Book

In 2005, Damon wrote Idiot: Beating "The Curse" and Enjoying the Game of Life with Peter Golenbock, and also appeared on Late Night With Conan O'Brien in April during a series against the Yankees. On June 7, he appeared on the hit Bravo TV series Queer Eye for the Straight Guy with four of his Red Sox teammates (Jason Varitek, Kevin Millar, Doug Mirabelli, Tim Wakefield).

[edit] Personal

Damon married his high school sweetheart, Angela Vannice, when he was 19. They were married from 1992 to 2002. They had twins together, Madelyn and Jackson, born April 22, 1999.^[20] Damon married Michelle Mangan on December 30, 2004. One of his wedding guests was Chris Henry of the Cincinnati Bengals. On January 4, 2007, Mangan gave birth to Damon's third child and her first, Devon Rose, in Orlando, Florida.^[21] Damon & his family reside in Windermere, Florida. Johnny and Michelle welcomed their second child together (Damon's fourth), a little girl named Danica, on September 18, 2008 in New York.^[22]

Damon is also active with the Wounded Warrior Project. Through his work with the Professional Baseball Gaming League, Damon aims to donate to the cause.

Damon campaigned in 2008 for then-presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani.^[23]

Damon was one of the victims of the $8 billion dollar fraud perpetrated by wealth manager Allen Stanford. ^[24]

[edit] Puma endorsement

In February of 2006, sporting goods company Puma signed Damon to a four-year endorsement deal. Damon wore the company's DFR model cleats during the 2006 season.^[25] This continues Puma's sponsorship of Damon, which began when he signed his first deal with the company in 2003.^[26]

[edit] Career statistics

[edit] See also

• Top 500 home run hitters of all time
• List of major league players with 2,000 hits
• List of Major League Baseball players with 400 doubles
• List of Major League Baseball players with 1000 runs
• List of Major League Baseball runs scored champions
• List of Major League Baseball stolen base champions
• List of Major League Baseball triples champions
• List of Major League Baseball players with 300 stolen bases

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Johnny Damon

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Johnny Damon

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube
• Johnny Damon at the Internet Movie Database