Johnny Damon

Johnny David Damon (born November 5, 1973 in Fort Riley, Kansas) is a Major League Baseball outfielder who plays center field for the New York Yankees. Since the 2000 season, he is 3rd among active major leaguers in runs (589), and 7th in hits (912) and stolen bases (153).Playing career
Damon was selected by the Kansas City Royals in the first round of the 1992 amateur draft out of Orlando's Dr. Phillips High School, where he had been teammates with A. J. Pierzynski (now of the Chicago White Sox); he was the 35th pick overall.

A straight-A student in high school, he walked away from a baseball scholarship at the University of Florida to sign with the Royals for $300,000

Minor leagues
In 1992 Damon hit .149 with a .568 slugging percentage in his first minor league season, in the Gulf Coast League.

In 1993 he stole 59 bases in the Midwest League.

In 1994 he had 44 stolen bases and a .399 on base percentage in the Carolina League.

In 1995 he was hitting .343 with 16 home runs, nearly twice as many walks as strikeouts, and a .434 on base percentage for Wichita in the Texas League, where he was voted MVP, when the Royals called him up
Royals
He played for the Royals from 1995 to 2000.

In 1995 he was the 8th youngest player in the league (21).

In 1996 he was 6th in the AL in stolen bases (25) and 10th in sacrifice hits (10).

In 1997 he was 3rd in the league in triples (8).

In 1998 he was 2rd in the league in triples (10).

In 1999 he was 2nd in the league in triples (9), 6th in the league in stolen bases (36), and 9th in doubles (39).

In 2000 Damon led the AL in runs (136) and stolen bases (46), was 2nd in hits (214), 3rd in triples (10) and sacrifice flies (12), and 10th in batting (.327
Damon spent 2001 with the Oakland Athletics.

In 2001 he was 3rd in the league in at bats (644) and 7th in runs (108).

Red Sox

Johnny Damon, center, jokes with players before Spring Training game, 2005.He spent 2002-05 with the Boston Red Sox.

In 2002 Damon led the league in triples (11), and was 3rd in infield hits (25).[2]

On June 27, 2003, Damon joined a very exclusive group of Major League Baseball players by recording 3 base hits in the first inning of a game (against the Florida Marlins). [3]

In 2004, he was 2nd in the league in runs (123). Damon began to re-establish himself among the premier lead-off hitters and center fielders in the game. In arguably his best season in the Major Leagues, Damon batted .304 with 20 home runs and 94 RBIs, and showed improved patience at the plate. 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.

In 2004, Damon was a key player in helping the Boston Red Sox win their first championship in 86 years. In game seven of the 2004 ALCS he hit two home runs (including a grand slam), to lead the Red Sox to victory over the Yankees. In the World Series he also hit a home run as Boston swept the St. Louis Cardinals.

Through his 4-year career with the Red Sox (2002-05), Johnny Damon appeared in 597 games (590 of them as the center fielder, and 7 as a designated hitter). [4] Of his 2476 at bats in a Boston uniform, 2259 of them were as their leadoff hitter. Damon batted 2nd in the lineup for 156 at bats in 2002, accounting for nearly all of the rest except for occasional pinch hitting appearances. Damon did start two games as the Red Sox' # 3 hitter in 2004. In 2005, his final season with the Red Sox, Damon had 624 at bats, and all but 3 were as the leadoff hitter.[5] He led the AL with 35 infield hits.[6]

New York Yankees

Johnny Damon currently plays for the New York Yankees.On December 20, 2005, Damon signed a 4-year, $52 million dollar contract with the New York Yankees.

Damon's signing with the Yankees led to his being subsequently vilified by many Red Sox fans because of his previously professed loyalty to the city and Red Sox organization. Some fans called him "Johnny Demon"[citation needed]or "Judas Damon,"[citation needed] and one held up a sign saying: "Johnny, you really are an Idiot."[citation needed] (In reaction to Damon's light-hearted characterization of the 2004 Red Sox as being a "bunch of idiots"). The Loren & Wally Show of WROR took to calling him "Juan Damón." Damon is the 3rd star Red Sox player in 12 years to "switch sides" and sign a contract with the Yankees, the others being Wade Boggs and Roger Clemens (though Clemens played with the Toronto Blue Jays in between his stints with the Red Sox and Yankees) who were also booed by Red Sox fans after they appeared back in Fenway Park in a Yankees uniform. Damon was even quoted before his departure from the Red Sox as saying "There's no way I can go play for the Yankees, but I know they're 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."[2] He joined the Yankees months later.

As the Yankees have a strict dress code for players forbidding both long hair and facial hair below the upper lip, Damon had his hair and beard cut on December 22.

During the first Yankee-Red Sox game of the 2006 season on May 1, Johnny Damon was booed by Fenway fans. He went 0-for-4. A minority of fans cheered Damon when he tipped his hat to his old team's dugout and then to the rest of the Fenway crowd.[3] Fans threw dollar bills in Damon's direction from the center field bleachers in protest of his departure for the larger contract.[citation needed] Reflecting on his return to Fenway, Damon remarked "I love Boston and I always will. I'll always have terrific memories and great fans here. Those fans [that booed] are just the kind of people who wish they were in my spot -- they really do. I mean, who doesn't want to be a complete sellout douchebag? They've got no class, but that only speaks for a few of them.[4]

In a pivotal 5-game series between the Yankees and Red Sox at Fenway Park, Damon went 3-for-6 in each of the first 3 games, including a doubleheader on Friday August 18, and a game on Saturday August 19. Damon hit 2 home runs, drove in 8 runs, and scored 8 runs in the first 3 games as the Yankees won them by a combined score of 39-20, and dealt a severe blow to the Red Sox' play-off aspirations for that season.

In 2006 Damon finished 3rd in runs (115) and 9th in stolen bases (25) in the AL, while hitting 24 home runs -- his career high-- as the left-handed hitter was able to take advantage of the short porch in right field at Yankee Stadium. He was only one of 4 players in the major leagues to hit at least 24 home runs and steal at least 24 bases (along with Soriano (46/41), Rollins (25/36), and Byrnes (26/25).

On opening day in 2007, Damon was temporarily sidelined due to calf problems. He did not, however go on the disabled list for his leg problems. After Yankees designated hitter Jason Giambi was placed on th DL, Johnny Damon filled the role of DH for him. Melky Cabrera is filling Damon's place at center field until Giambi is able to come off the DL.


World Baseball Classic
Damon went 1-7 and scored a run during the World Baseball Classic as part of the United States team, and missed some time in the 2nd round games due to tendonitis in his left (throwing) shoulder.[citation needed]


Postseason
During the 2004 ALCS, Damon had been in a slump. Damon hit 2 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 postseason series deficit, in a 10-3 victory over the New York Yankees in Game 7.

Over his career in the postseason, Damon has hit .278 with 5 home runs and 16 RBI with the A's, Red Sox, and Yankees.