Looking for Boos

Ian Browne and Peter Abraham both think that Red Sox fans “owe” Johnny Damon a standing ovation this weekend.  I won’t link to their articles, you can find them easily enough, and they are both absolutely ridiculous.

Earlier this year I looked up some quotes because Nick Cafardo wrote a piece trying to guilt fans into loving Johnny again.  I think now is a great time to remind folks that Johnny doesn’t deserve a standing ovation.

=========================================================================================

From March 2010:

For your amusement today, check out Nick Cafardo’s article about Johnny Damon. You know how I loathe to link to most of the writers over there but I really did get a few chuckles out of Cafardo’s story. Now, I don’t “hate” Damon. I think he followed the money and then pretended that he went to New York because Boston didn’t want him enough. THEN he spent his years in New York talking about how he was with the team he always wanted to be with and winning a championship with them is what he always wanted to do. Now that they have no use for him and he’s digging in with the Tigers, he tells Nick Cafardo that leaving Boston was more difficult than leaving New York and that he hopes there are no hard feelings with Red Sox fans.

Listen, I get the money thing. I do. I don’t always like it but it’s ridiculous to think every player in ball will take hometown discounts when the owners aren’t willing to make similar concessions. What I don’t get. What I will NEVER get and what will always bother me about Damon is he pretended that he was loyal to the Boston fans. This doesn’t mean never leaving the team but what it does mean is keeping your yap shut. He talked a fair amount of trash about the team while he was with the Yanks (and by the team I mean the ownership and in regard to how things were run, not specific players) and, ultimately, his big no-no, which everyone knows and some can even name the date he said it, was promising the fans that, regardless of what happened, he wouldn’t go to the Yankees. He never said he wouldn’t leave. Here’s what he said, in May of 2005, and why I’ll never root for the man again.

“There’s no way I can go play for the Yankees, but I know they are 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.”

And here’s what he said in December of that same year when the Sox offered him $40 million to stay and the Yankees offered him $52 million.

”It was a very tough decision, but New York came after me aggressively and that’s what sealed the deal,” Damon told Channel 4 last night. ”They showed they really wanted me. I tried with Boston, waiting for them to step up, but unfortunately they didn’t and now I’m headed to New York.

So in May he knew they’d come after him “hard” and it didn’t matter because there was “no way” he could play for the Yankees. But in December, the Yankees coming after him “aggressively” is what “sealed the deal”. So there you have it, Johnny. YOU are the reason the Sox fans who “turned” on you did when you went to New York. And YOU are the reason that many of those same fans will never be a fan of yours again. I’m sure many will say “well, he’s not a Yankee any more, all is forgiven”. Not me. I thought I would be but Cafardo’s article (and my recalling these quotes) really, as Johnny said, seals the deal. Have a nice life, Johnny. Just stop trying to get back into the good graces of the Red Sox fans. I don’t want you getting your hypocritical stank on my Nation.

===========================================================================================

Before Abraham and Browne pointed out that fans should honor Damon, I didn’t even realize he was coming to town this weekend.  I don’t give much thought to him any more.  I don’t automatically think “Johnny Damon is on that team” when I hear “Detroit Tigers”.   I just don’t.  But not thinking about him doesn’t change what he did or how I felt when he did it.   I don’t care if the Boston sports writers don’t “get” that…I DO care when they try to get superior on us and tell us what we should or shouldn’t do.

So here’s my advice:  If you think Johnny Damon deserves cheers, I don’t agree with you but have at it.  But don’t do it because you think you “owe” it to him.  Damon got plenty of love while he was here (and, in my opinion, he took it and set it on fire) and the fans don’t owe him a damn thing.  And if you feel like booing him, boo baby boo.  His socks aren’t red any more and if you still feel that strongly about it then let it out.

These writers make me tired.  Please don’t make them feel as powerful as they hope they are.