Damon's Decision

A hint of wistfulness swept over the Glass Man yesterday when I saw the news that Johnny Damon had declined the Red Sox' waiver claim that would have returned him to Beantown.

Having gone to school in Western Massachusetts and spent a good amount of time in Boston after graduating, I have a deep affection for the Red Sox and their fans.

Many Red Sox sympathizers turned on the team after they finally won it all in 2004 and/or after 2007 and/or after watching Fever Pitch and/or members of the team, Damon included, on Queer Eye for the Straight Guy.

Not me. Between their fans' laudable passion for their team and their utter hatred of the Yankees, there's a lot to like about the Olde Towne Team for a guy like me.

Johnny Damon's defection to the Yankees after the 2005 season was one of the more disappointing episodes in recent free agent history.

Given all the drama between the Red Sox and Yankees in the first half of the aughts, it was disconcerting to fans of all teams to confront the reality that their best, most beloved players could end up with their most hated rival for the right price.

As Jerry Seinfeld put it, as fans we root for laundry. We can love a guy one day when he's wearing our shirt and hate him the next when he's wearing another team's shirt.

With Damon though I always hoped for some sort of redemptive run with the Red Sox. Yankee defection or no Yankee defection, because of his exploits in 2004, he remains an integral part of Boston sporting lore.

Time heals all wounds, and eventually Damon will come back for an old timers' day and be given a boisterous, standing ovation. That seems like a near certainty to me.

For now though he probably only compounded the hard feelings between himself and Red Sox fans by declining a return trip to Boston.

And the part of me that remembers the joy those 2004 Red Sox brought to a small New England town cradled in the Berkshires wishes Damon had chosen differently. 

- A.F.O.M.G.