No biggie. For most of his career, Damon had no beard or long hair:
Posted on 12/20/2005 9:47:17 PM PST by Liberty Valance
NEW YORK (AP) - The New York Yankees grabbed center fielder Johnny Damon away from the rival Boston Red Sox, reaching a preliminary agreement Tuesday night on a $52 million, four-year contract.
Details of the deal were still being negotiated and Damon must pass a physical, a baseball official said on condition of anonymity because negotiations were not yet final. Moving from Fenway Park to Yankee Stadium will mean a change of style and scenery for the long-haired, bearded Damon - New York owner George Steinbrenner has rules governing the length of hair and bans beards.
"Sad to say bye to some of the greatest fans in the world. Unfortunately they had to see this day, but it's time for me to move forward," Damon told WBZ television in Boston.
Damon fills a double void for the Yankees, giving them a speedy center fielder who can cover ground and a leadoff hitter to top a star-studded lineup that also includes Derek Jeter, Gary Sheffield, AL MVP Alex Rodriguez, Hideki Matsui and Jason Giambi.
Bernie Williams' defense declined significantly over the past four seasons. And while Damon's arm is not much better, he does cover a lot of ground, which is important in Yankee Stadium.
Agent Scott Boras had been seeking a seven-year contract for Damon. The offer Damon accepted was essentially the same as the deal Matsui agreed to with the Yankees last month.
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.foxsports.com ...
I'm tired of all these "franchise" pro athletes moving around? I'm sick of it, personally.
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No biggie. For most of his career, Damon had no beard or long hair:
Talk about overpaying! Damon is a good ballplayer, but I think he topped out a year or two ago and has begun the gradual downhill side of his career. Might still be a marginal All-Star for another year or two. He's a good get-on-base guy, can cover the ground in CF--probably worth $8-9 mil per year for two-three years, but this contract is too high and too long. But hey, it's the Yanks.
Wow. Thanks for posting those pix. Damon has done some moving around.
How soon till the Yankee payroll hits 300 million?
Thank goodness! Now the Phillies can't waste their money on him.
I am a die-hard St.Louis Cardinal baseball fan, and get the DT's until it's SP(Spring Training).
I just went over to the Red Sox and Yankee boards on MLB.com.
On the Yankee boards:Everyone wants a Johnny Damon Yankee jersey.....NOW !!!!!! (so they can PO Red Sox fans.)
If you had any to sell on e-bay and could fulfill all the orders, you would be retired by the weekend, with Cardinal season tickets for life, paid for...
On the Red Sox Board:........If I were Johnny Damon, I would IMMEDIATELY take part of my 52 mil contract, and hire some one (for the rest of my life) to start my car.........
Thanks for the pics. OK, now all we need are the pinstripes... :-(
LOL!
Bernie has indeed slowed down, but he still covers decent ground. Damon may cover a little more. Both have lousy arms, as the author mentioned. The big difference is that Bernie's bat has all but disappeared, and Damon is not only at the top of his game in that regard but is the leadoff hitter the Yanks have been looking for since ....the mid-80s.
I hear you. This actually works out well for the Mariners because the Red Sox are persuing the Mariners "so-so" centerfielder from last year, Jeremy Reed, if Damon left.
This means we will be negotiating from a position of power and can demand better prospects. The mariners need pitching the the red sox have good prospects up the wazoo.
No more trying to unload bad contracts or goose egg hurlers on us.
Yikes! That's an asinine amount of money to pay the Geico caveman.
The guy's already on the downslide, and he'll be collecting better than $12 million to ride the bench in 2010?!
It'll probably be somebody else's bench to boot, with George still signing his paychecks.
The yankees want Ichiro bad, but they know they aren't going to get him, so they locked up Damon as their leadoff man for the next couple years.
Stupid move. Damon's best days are behind him. I wonder if his media-loving wife will get any attention in New York. She's got a gig in Boston.
Not for long. Steinbrenner probably already made him an appointment at the team barbershop.
LOL. You nailed it. My wife is so pissed off right now, she's swearing off baseball. She's madder than I was at the strike ('94? '95?), and it took me until last year to even entertain interest in major league ball.
I was just on the Red Sox board on MLB.com. ....NO mention about ANY recent Seattle trade talk (Jeremy Reed??), but A TON of posts about Coco Crisp (Indians)....
Probably not soon. The Yankees lost money last season. They also have a lot of big contracts coming off the books(Kevin Brown, Bernie Williams....) so they are most likely replacing all that money they would have saved with more spending.
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