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Damon named AL Player of the Week Week highlighted by sweep of ex-teammates at Fenway. |
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Johnny Damon opened the Yankees' pivotal five-game series against the Red Sox with a triple and never looked back. "That's what we've seen him do on the other side of the field for so many years," Yankees manager Joe Torre said. "He just rises to the occasion." In fact, the center fielder rose to more than one occasion this week, torching his former team for two home runs, three doubles, a triple and eight RBIs and hitting .435 (10-for-26) as New York swept Boston in five games to take a commanding 6 1/2-game division lead over its American League East foe. Perhaps the storied rivalry inspired him, but the 32-year-old Damon was just as strong at the beginning of the week as he was at the end. During the week ending Aug. 20, he hit .390 (16-for-41) with four doubles, two triples, four home runs and 12 RBIs, collected 36 total bases and bragged a slugging percentage of .878. For his efforts, he received American League Player of the Week honors, as presented by Bank of America. Through it all, Damon remained humble. "The fans are letting us know what's going on," he said Tuesday, after going 2-for-3 with a triple and a home run in a 6-3 win over Baltimore. "Any time you hear them start applauding, you know something good just happened." It's a noise that's been ringing in his ears all week. On Thursday, Damon went 3-for-4 with a homer against the Orioles. On Friday, he one-upped himself, going 3-for-6 with a triple, a homer, four RBIs and three runs scored in a day-night doubleheader at Fenway Park that opened a five-game series against the team which he led to a World Series in 2004. "It's always great when you can go back home where you've established yourself and play a great game," Yankees first baseman Jason Giambi said of Damon. "He had a lot of great memories, and he'd be the first one to tell you that. He's the one that broke us through." But he harbored no soft spot in his heart for the Red Sox. Largely because of Damon's offense this week, New York became the first team in history to score 12 or more runs against the Red Sox at Fenway Park in three straight games. The Yankees defeated Boston 12-4, 14-11 and 13-5 during that time. Although Boston slugger David Ortiz couldn't echo Damon's "this feels pretty good" sentiments, Ortiz said if anyone were to dominate an opposing team's pitchers, it'd be Damon. "That's not a surprise. That's all he did when he was here," he said. "I'm not surprised." Damon, who's hitting .296 (137-for-463) with 20 home runs, 67 RBIs and 22 stolen bases this year, is the second Yankee to win Player of the Week accolades this season. Giambi took them home April 16. Also considered for the award this week were the Yankees' Bobby Abreu (.483 batting average, four doubles, thee RBIs, 10 walks) and Robinson Cano (.306, three doubles, two homers, 13 RBIs) and Angels outfielder Vladimir Guerrero (.407, three doubles, one home run, nine RBIs). Twins pitcher Johan Santana (2-0, 0.60 ERA, 15 IP, 14K), Blue Jays pitcher Roy Halladay (2-0, 2.57 ERA, 14 IP, 5K) and White Sox pitcher Jon Garland (2-0, 0.61 ERA, 14 2/3 IP, 10K) were also in contention
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Originally Posted by Goodfella9783
I heard that he said that going to the Yankees was his best career move ever and that he's happiest there or something.
Didn't seem like that when he was cryin like a biatch talkin about his times in Boston. But he did have sick series against us. |
| BOSTON - For the first time since he betrayed all that is dear to Red Sox Nation, Johnny Damon owned Fenway Park again, day and night. |
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The Boston fans still jeered him, greeted him with a naughty, extended finger and R-rated chants. But in his fifth and sixth games back here this season, Damon was a Zen master, he was one with the jagged little field again, communing with the nooks and crannies inside the green building on Yawkey Way. It was quite a day-night doubleheader for Damon, and the Yanks. While the Bombers swept two softball-ish games against some dreadful Red Sox pitching (12-4, 14-11), Damon amassed six hits, seven RBI, two homers, a triple, plus an impressive catch in center field to rescue Chien-Ming Wang in the opener. Where to start? His leadoff liner in the day game bounced into the farthest reaches of the stadium, for a stand-up triple. He managed a two-run homer to right in the fifth. The ball barely carried over the wall, and Damon skipped like a Little Leaguer at the sight as he rounded first. "Didn't think I got enough of it," he said. His sliding catch of Alex Gonzalez's sinking drive in the sixth saved two runs, at least. "A huge play," Joe Torre called it, and even the modest Damon admitted his defensive feat was the turning point of the game. For good measure, in the ninth, Damon knocked in another two insurance runs with a single. The sun set, another slugfest arose. Damon curled a two-run homer to right past the Pesky Pole in the fourth inning of the nightcap, hours and many plot twists before the Yanks won this second contest with seven runs in the seventh. "No lead is safe here," Damon said. He ought to know. But he wasn't nervous anymore, didn't feel like a traitor. He was merely another Yankee in enemy territory, like the rest of his teammates. "The first time in here was definitely weird," Damon said about his 0-for-4 game at Fenway back on May 1. "I've been with the Yankees eight months now, almost nine. I think I've found my niche." In the midst of such heated emotions, Damon kept reminding reporters he was not a Red Sox player all his life. He once played for Kansas City and Oakland, and was here in Boston for only one-third of his 12-year major league career. Damon called his time in Boston "that love affair we had for four years." It was never a formal marriage in his own mind, though, no matter what they thought around Kenmore Square. Damon isn't about that kind of commitment. He's about the passionate dalliance. "Hopefully, they can realize how great a time it was, and can enjoy that," he said. "I played for many different teams, came here as a Royal, as an A. Today, this was just another game." That was the hard truth, spoken in soft tones by a businessman/athlete. In baseball, there are the Damons and A-Rods, the nomads. Then there are the Jeters and Bernies. It is wrong to suggest that one type of player is better than the other, more loyal or ethically correct. Teams are corporate entities, and will turn on their players in an instant. Once in a blue moon, a player like Bernie Williams will find himself in a perfect situation from Day One and not mess it up. Same with Jeter, who was asked yesterday if he could ever imagine walking into Yankee Stadium as a Red Sox player. "I can't imagine it, because it's the only place I've played," Jeter said. "It's different for (Damon)." Damon reminded everyone yesterday he wasn't exactly greeted with open arms when he first came to Boston, not until the Red Sox won the title in 2004. Then he was embraced, practically deified. When he jilted the city, he knew full well what to expect. Damon was fine with that. If they wanted to boo him, he would simply line another ball into the gap. The message from Damon was clear to Yankee fans, as well. Don't fall in love with this guy. He'll break your heart every time. He left Boston after four years, the exact length of his current contract in the Bronx. The man is a gigolo. New York's gigolo, for now. |
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