Inside Baseball
Despite big year, Damon not sure he’ll be back
Published: May 17, 2009, 12:30 am
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TORONTO—The Yankees are struggling just to get to .500 and stay there. Where in the world would they be without Johnny Damon wielding his big bat? And is it really that automatic that Damon is playing out the last year of his contract and figures to be elsewhere in 2010?
Damon is one of the big go-to guys for the media in the Yankees clubhouse and a bunch of us gathered around him last week in the Rogers Centre because he had been named American League Player of the Week. It was a pretty straightforward conversation for a bit until Damon dropped a bit of a bombshell when asked how he deals with playing in a contract year.
“I don’t think it will be too much of a surprise if they don’t bring me back,” Damon said. “I would love to be able to say I’ll be back. This would definitely be the best place for me. I feel like this could be my last chance to be on a winner. I understand the free agent game, how it is. I know they have a bunch of young outfielders coming up.
“I can’t concern myself with that. I have to go out, play every day and pretend like it could be my last chance to get to the playoffs or make a World Series run.”
At 35, Damon has been a season-saver thus far for the Yankees. There are plenty of older players on this team who are breaking down and that includes big names like Mariano Rivera (39 years old) and Jorge Posada (36). You have to wonder about Andy Pettitte (36), Derek Jeter (34) and Hideki Matsui (34). Alex Rodriguez (33) is just back from hip surgery. Backup catcher Jose Molina (33) is on the DL too but at least youngster Francisco Cervelli has been a revelation behind the plate.
Damon hit eight of his 17 home runs in September last season and entered the weekend with nine this year. He was also leading the Yankees in slugging (.621) and OPS (1.006).
“Johnny has had a big, big season for us,” manager Joe Girardi said. “Last year he had the shoulder issue [from running into the outfield fence] and it cost him some of his power numbers. Think about the hits he’s had from the seventh inning on already in this year and he’s been as big as anybody in baseball.”
Damon can’t run like he used to or steal bases so he admitted he’s been looking at more of a power stroke, particularly at the wind tunnel known as the new Yankee Stadium.
On Friday night, when he was ejected after going 0 for 2, it broke a string of 10 games in which he scored a run and collected at least one extra-base hit. No one had done that in the American League since Ken Griffey Jr. in 1993 and no Yankee had done it since Don Mattingly in 1987.
“I feel honored,” Damon said. “Those guys are special players I grew up watching. They’re both gamers and I’m proud to be in their company.”
Damon could create some pretty proud company for himself too if he can last a few more years.
Damon scored his 1,400th career run Tuesday and entered Saturday with 192 career home runs, 940 RBIs and 365 steals. Only three players have 200 homers, 400 steals, 1,000 RBIs, 1,500 runs and 3,000 hits: Rickey Henderson, Craig Biggio and Paul Molitor. He could join them.
Getting to 3,000 hits isn’t ridiculous. Damon is bearing down on 2,400 and could get to 3,000 in about 4z years.
“I always felt like I had a lot of baseball to give,” he said. “You start hearing things for a couple of years that ‘He’s getting too old’ and sometimes it creeps into your mind a little bit. I got past that stage. I feel like I’ve been very blessed being healthy for most of my career.
“There are a lot of numbers I’m coming up to I’d like to accomplish and go down as one of the better players who has played. I think saying that would be OK.”
Among free agent outfielders, Damon and Matt Holliday look to be the big prizes next winter. In the winter of 2005, it was a shock that Damon didn’t return to Boston. Three days before he signed, he was doing his annual Christmas hospital visits there. Things are different now, especially with top Yankees outfield prospect Austin Jackson tearing up the International League.
“I’m definitely trying to enjoy it,” Damon said. “When I was a free agent with Boston, everybody including myself thought I was going back there until two or three days before I signed with New York. Here, everybody has the heads up that this could be it.”
Jays bounce Ryan
Blue Jays closer B. J. Ryan (1-0, 11.12) was activated off the disabled list Friday but has lost his job to Scott Downs because he simply was running into too much trouble in his ninth-inning role.
Ryan is going to be serving in a setup role and was told that by General Manager J. P. Ricciardi while he was on rehab at the Jays’ spring complex in Florida. Publicly at least, Ryan told manager Cito Gaston he would pitch in any role needed. Wonder if the Jays might get some calls about Ryan later in the year if he straightens himself out?
For a team that needs to be a tad thrifty with its payroll, a setup role is expensive work for a guy in the fourth year of a five-year, $47 million deal.
No trespassing
The Yankees keep getting roasted for policies in their new stadium that prevent fans from getting close to the action during batting practice to watch players hit and try to get autographs. They finally revised things last week to allow folks into the field-level seats down the lines during BP—but still won’t allow anyone into the Legends area, the $2,625 seats that were recently pared to $1,250.
Dweeb of the week is easily Yankees COO Lonn Trost, who dropped this pearl when asked about the policy the day before the team’s about-face: “If you purchase a suite, do you want somebody in your suite? If you purchase a home, do you want somebody in your home?”
Mets have heart
Maybe things have been a mess on the field for the Mets in Buffalo but you certainly have to give the folks in Flushing a thumbs up when it comes to supporting the cities their minor leaguers play in.
When the Mets signed up to play in New Orleans two years ago, they immediately contributed to Hurricane Katrina relief efforts. They opened plenty of eyes in Buffalo with their $25,000 check for the city schools’ baseball league on the day they signed with the Herd last September.
And now they’ve they’ve matched the $5,000 contribution of their Double- A team in Binghamton to help benefit the victims of the April 3 shooting at the American Civic Association there in which 13 people were killed.
No. 1 rolling
The big buzz in the college ranks continues to be over San Diego State pitcher Stephen Strasburg, who will almost certainly be the No. 1 pick in the June draft by the Nationals. After giving up one run in six innings Thursday against Utah, Strasburg is 12-0 with a 1.34 ERA and 174 strikeouts in 94x innin 3/4 1/3 .
In his final home game last week, he threw a no-hitter with 17 strikeouts in a 5-0 win over Air Force. Only two baserunners reached, both on walks.
Strasburg, whose collegiate manager is Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn, routinely gets his fastball in the 98-99 mph range. Several members of the Nationals front office, including acting GM Mike Rizzo, have attended his recent starts.
Ex-Bisons coming
Torey Lovullo- led Columbus will come to town for a four-game set against the Bisons starting here Thursday afternoon. Should be an odd kind of reunion with Lovullo, pitching coach Scott Radinsky, trainer Jeff Desjardins and 16 ex-Bisons players on the roster of the new Cleveland affiliate.
The headliners include Andy Marte, Michael Aubrey, Trevor Crowe, Jordan Brown and Jeremy Sowers. Travis Hafner just started a rehab stint with the Clippers on Friday night and he could be with Columbus as well.
IL items
• The Bisons just missed rehabbing Red Sox pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka, who pitched for Pawtucket on Friday night at Toledo, one day before the Herd arrived in Pawtucket. Dice-K allowed two runs in five innings but struck out nine.
• What happened to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre last week? The Yankees were shut out four games in a row and went 44 1/3 innings without a run. They thus lost five straight after a 23-5 start.
mharrington@buffnews.com
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