Johnny Damon is going to the Yankees. What an ass! Seriously! How can he basically spit in his fans' faces by going to the team of their arch-rivals?? Ugh. I'm so disgusted with him right now. Yes, like news, sports is a business. However, I have turned down a larger salary in favor of location and loyalty. Many people have. 52 million is a lot of money. He could not have remained loyal to his fans to play for less?
I never was a Damon fan. I'd root for him madly because he was on the Red Sox, but I never actually liked the guy. Being proud of ignorance is not really a quality I admire. Sigh...
I may have to change my license plates to Pats plates (which is what I had originally requested when I moved up here, but they were not yet available). I'm not being a fair-weather fan here; I really disrespect the way the Red Sox are being run, and really admire the way the Patriots organization is controlled. Although losing Damon may not be a sign of bad decisions on the part of the Red Sox brass, I think they have definitely made some huge ones along the way.
I think the biggest mistake the Sox have made over the last few years was losing Cabrera. In a clubhouse of idiots, you need a classy guy who is well-liked yet stands apart. Schilling could never fill this role because he is too self-righteous. I really like Varitek, yet can you imagine Cabrera taking a shot at A-Rod the way Varitek did? Yeah, it was cool and we cheered him and I still like that he did it, but that's not the personality you need to unite people.
Cabrera also crossed race and language lines. He was a hard worker and somebody we all could admire; soft-spoken and not trying to take credit or sleeping with strippers (that we knew of like we know of with Johnny).
Okay, that's my vent for today. Time to work.
6 comments:
It's true that sports is a business, but other athletes (Tom Brady, for example) have turned down bigger money to maintain their loyalties. I understand why Damon did what he did, but it still sucks emotionally ;(
I wouldn't make the leap from that to disrespecting the entire Sox organization, though. They didn't keep Cabrera because he was always intended as a 1-year fill-in until Hanley Ramirez was ready: of course now Ramirez is gone, but hindsight is always 20-20. I have to say Cabrera was the nicest pro player I've met: I ran into him at Ginza late one night in November 2004, after they'd won the series, bought him a drink, and he was very open, friendly.
Hmm...$13 million to a centerfield who can't play defense, is injure prone and can't throw to save his life? Please...let the Yankees have him. We could have dealt with him for $10 million, but $13 just isn't worth it.
Cabrera was let go because he was a "clubhouse cancer." He was great defensively and a decent hitter. The Sox may regret letting him go, but at the time, there was no way he was coming back.
It's not that he's the most skilled guy...it's that he was ours...
Just like when you date someone for a few years, then you discussing breaking up, and he goes out with the girl you hate most in the world (but who is, of course, very good-looking). You know he's not the best for you, but at the same time, you don't want her having him, either.
Sigh...of course, being the complete hypocrite I am, i just took advantage of the invitation I received to buy Sox Pax and bought tickets to four more games for my parents. The only thing I can think of is when Barney wins a lifetime supply of beer after swearing off the stuff: "Just hook it to my veins!!!"
Check out http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=caple/051221, it's piercing.
Are you saying the Yankees are better looking than the Sox?! Have you seen Randy Johnson?!
I will be laughing my butt off when Damon blows out his shoulder half-way thru the season.
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