Damon, Johnny
Webpages concerning "Damon, Johnny"
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Wikipedia-Article "Johnny Damon"
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| Position | Center Field |
| Team | New York Yankees |
| Years of Experience | 10 years |
| Age | 32 |
| Height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) |
| Weight | 205 lb (93 kg) |
| Bats | Left |
| Throws | Left |
| College | N/A |
| 2006 Salary | $13,000,000 |
| Place of Birth | Fort Riley, Kansas |
| Selection | 1st round amateur draft, 1992. |
| Drafted by | Kansas City Royals |
| Major League Debut | August 12, 1995 |
Johnny David Damon (born November 5, 1973 in Fort Riley, Kansas) is a Major League Baseball outfielder, and as of December 21, 2005, will play center field for the New York Yankees.
His mother Yome is Thai and his father Jimmy is Caucasian; they met while his father was serving as a staff sergeant in the United States Army. He was born on an Army base, and spent much of his early childhood as an "Army brat," moving to several bases before his father left the Army and settled the family in the Orlando area. He was selected by the Kansas City Royals in the first round of the 1992 amateur draft out of Orlando's Dr. Phillips High School; he was the 35th pick overall. He played for the Royals from 1995 to 2000, and spent 2001 with the Oakland Athletics. He spent 2002 to 2005 with the Boston Red Sox before signing as a free agent with the New York Yankees on December 20, 2005.
On June 27, 2003, Damon joined a very exclusive group of Major League Baseball players by getting three base hits in the first inning of a 25-8 pummeling of the Florida Marlins. The Red Sox scored 14 runs in that inning, and 10 runs before a single out was recorded. Ironically, the Marlins' starting pitcher for that game was Carl Pavano, a player included in the Sox trade for Pedro Martinez.
During the 2004 season, Damon established himself as among the premier lead-off hitters and center fielders in the game today. At the plate, he batted .304 with 20 home runs and 94 RBIs, and showed an improved patience while batting. 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.
Damon has gained some notoriety for the prominent beard and long, uncut hairstyle he brought with him to spring training in the 2004 season, contrasting with his previously clean-cut appearance. His long hair and beard actually came from an unlikely cause - his head on collision with Damian Jackson during the 2003 playoffs. Damon lay on the field unconscious for approximately five minutes. When he came to, Damon was completely disoriented, believing that he was still playing for his old team, the Oakland Athletics. For several weeks thereafter, Damon continued to be very disoriented, as even today, Damon has a "spotty" recollection of Game 3 of the 2003 Championship Series against arch rivals the New York Yankees. For the entire offseason after this injury, Damon suffered extremely painful headaches, which he said came every afternoon around two o'clock. The headaches came to disrupt his life so much that he stopped shaving and having his hair cut. So by the time for the 2004 season to begin, he had an uncharacterstic big bushy beard and shoulder length hair. His new look, probably coupled with the runaway success of the recently-released Mel Gibson film The Passion of the Christ, inspired fans and sportswriters to draw good-natured comparisons between his appearance and that of Jesus. (Some people also drew comparisons to the late Jim Morrison, the lead singer of The Doors, and to Charles Manson.) Fans with center-field seats at Fenway Park began showing up with fake beards and wigs to support their favorite center fielder. Sales of t-shirts that read "W.W.J.D.D." (for "What would Johnny Damon do?") and "Johnny is my homeboy" were robust. Even Bronson Arroyo was seen with a shirt that proclaimed, "What curse? We got Jesus on our side." Arroyo and "Jesus" helped record vocals to the Dropkick Murphys song "Tessie" before the season. The song received generally poor reviews, but can still be currently heard as part of the soundtrack for EA Sports' MVP Baseball 2005 video game.
On May 21, 2004, Johnny shaved his beard in a charity event sponsored by the Gillette razor company. The proceeds from the event went to benefit literacy programs in conjunction with the Boston public library. He regrew the beard and it remained for the rest of the season.
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.
During the 2004 ALCS, Damon was in a bit of a slump, getting on base much less often than he had been during the regular season and the ALDS. However, he redeemed himself on October 20 by hitting two home runs, including a grand slam in the 2nd inning, to help the Boston Red Sox become the first team in major league history (and just the third in the history of North American pro sports) to overcome a 3-0 series deficit, in a 10-3 victory over the New York Yankees in Game 7.
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). On December 11, Damon made a foray into the world of professional wrestling; he helped Chris Sabin, Sonjay Dutt, and Dale Torborg (the roving strength coach of the Chicago White Sox and a former pro wrestler) get the win over Diamonds in the Rough in a six-man "BaseBrawl" at TNA Turning Point. Damon handed a home plate to his childhood friend, White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski (who was managing Sabin, Dutt, and Torborg) for use as a weapon; Pierzynski proceeded to club Simon Diamond with it, allowing Dutt to hit his "Hindu Press" on Diamond and get the pin.
On December 20, 2005, Damon signed a four-year, $52 million dollar contract with the New York Yankees. As the Yankees have a strict dress code forbidding long hair and facial hair, Damon had his hair and beard cut on December 22. Damon is the third notable Red Sox player in the past 12 years to "switch sides" and sign a contract with the Yankees, following in the footsteps of Wade Boggs and Roger Clemens (though Clemens signed with the Toronto Blue Jays in between stints with the Red Sox and Yankees.) Much like Boggs and Clemens, Damon has been immediately vilified. Although just a year ago he was considered a World Series hero, he is now regarded by many Red Sox fans as a traitor for his abrupt signing with their archrival.
External Links
- Baseball-Reference.com - career statistics and analysis
- Johnny Damon at ESPN.com