Johnny Damon Key in Ending Yankees Dynasty

By Ethen Lieser
AsianWeek Staff Writer

Playing in Boston is nirvana, a baseball utopia, ground zero of what the game has meant in the last 150 years. But the bottom line is this: Produce or get the hell out. Boston is notoriously known for its intelligent and unforgiving fans who are quick to expectorate scathing slurs and heckles.

Johnny Damon, the new center fielder of the Red Sox this season, has not yet been branded by the Red Sox Nation because of one reason only: He is playing like the much-hyped commodity that the Red Sox spent $31 million for over four years ago. Still, Boston is seven games behind the New York Yankees, but this season, all Boston needs is a scalding stretch run to oust the men in pinstripes.

The left-handed hitting Damon has been a bull this season. The Red Sox can count on him to be in the lineup every day, put up All-Star numbers and play flawless defense. In fact, Damon has not committed an error in the outfield since the summer of last year (over 240 games ago).

Damon, who was named to the All-Star team through an Internet runoff, is hitting .292 with 26 stolen bases and 92 runs scored, well on his way to register his sixth straight 100-run season. He has also stolen at least 20 bases six times in his eight-year career.

To gauge Damon’s contributions, one cannot just look at numbers alone. Damon is a consummate team player and pliable as a stick of chewing gum. Whenever the aging Rickey Henderson got a start, Damon gladly took his No. 2 spot in the order. Henderson has struggled, though, hitting .230 in 148 at-bats.

Damon, meantime, has been on fire wherever Manager Grady Little has inserted him. At the top of the order, Damon is hitting .280 with 20 stolen bases in 311 at-bats. In the No. 2 slot, Damon is hitting a sizzling .321 with a near-.400 on-base percentage.

But those numbers shouldn’t come as a surprise. Damon had a dreadful year with the Oakland A’s last season, hitting a career-low .256, which followed his breakout year in 2000, when he hit .327, stole 46 bases and scored 136 runs.

Damon never hankered for the crisp year-round weather in Oakland, which is a huge change considering that he spent six years in humidity-laden Kansas City. He’s like a lot of big leaguers — sweating gets his blood boiling. At Fenway Park, where summers often can feel as if it were tropical, Damon has delivered with the bat, hitting .300 in 207 at-bats.

And most importantly, Damon has learned to despise the Yankees. “Unfortunately, I know quite a bit about [the Yankees aura] too,” said Damon earlier in the season. “But it’s time to give the Babe a shot of tequila and take it to the next level. We have the team to do it. It’s going to be a fun year.”

It has been a fun year indeed. After last season’s debacle, the Red Sox are primed to make a run at the Yankees, who have held the American League East lead for most of the season. Manny Ramirez has been injured much of the year, and Nomar Garciaparra has been in a rut lately. But it has been Damon, sturdy as a Clydesdale, keeping the Red Sox afloat.

The Red Sox play the Yankees five more times this season. If Damon is indeed the key to the Red Sox season, Red Sox Nation can relax a bit — Damon has been killing Yankee pitching.

Against Andy Pettitte, Mike Mussina and David Wells, Damon is hitting nearly .300. Against Orlando Hernandez, well, Damon has made him look like a lost puppy dog, bashing “El Duque” for a .424 average. The only pitcher who gives Damon any hint of trouble is Roger Clemens (.162).

There are other ways Damon can beat opponents too. He can flat-out run. And none of those Yankee pitchers, except Pettitte, has great moves to first base. If Damon can get on base like he has all season, he will have no reservations about turning the game into an Indy 500.

Can’t you feel September roaring around the corner? Watch out, Red Sox Nation, next month is going to be a burner.

Reach Ethen Lieser at elieser@asianweek.com.