TAMPA, Fla. – Johnny Damon wants to be over the Red Sox. He wants the Red Sox to be over him. And, in his ideal world, he would like everyone to be friends, too.
Despite saying several times this winter that he felt the Red Sox organization showed him disrespect because of how they handled his free agency, Damon is still close with some of his former teammates, and, in a gesture that he admitted might have appeared a little strange, even tried to bring his past and present together last week at the World Baseball Classic.
After the U.S. team was eliminated last Thursday night in Anaheim, Damon said he tried to get a charter plane to take both his Yankee teammates – Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez – as well as his old Red Sox pals Jason Varitek and Mike Timlin back to Florida.
Yankees and Red Sox traveling together? Ultimately it didn’t happen since “the shortness of time made it hard to put together,” Damon said, but “it would have been great if we could have done it.”
It wouldn’t have been a little awkward for players on both sides of baseball’s biggest rivalry? “Nah, I think the media brings the rivalry to hatred, but it’s not quite like that,” he said.
And what about Varitek and A-Rod – who famously traded blows in 2004 – flying together?
“I’m sure it would have been fine. Alex is so into his daughter and family anyway, it wouldn’t have been any issue,” Damon said.
Whether that’s just the latest example of Damon’s perpetually happy-go-lucky attitude remains to be seen, but it’s clear he’s pretty secure with his new team.
As for his old one, Damon will face the Red Sox for the first time Wednesday night when Boston comes to Legends Field. Damon, 32, says it won’t be too emotional for him since he already had a few difficult moments while in Arizona.
Varitek, who Damon said he spoke to several times over the winter before signing his four-year, $52 million deal with the Yanks, and Timlin were both a little overwhelmed, Damon said.
“They were just kind of shocked,” he said. “They were saying to me, “This is really going to be the last time’ that, you know, they’re playing with me. They were pretty saddened. And obviously I loved having them as teammates, but they understand the business side of the game and what comes with it.”
Now he has to get to know a completely new set of teammates, but said going to the WBC actually worked out as a positive since he got to spend quality time with Jeter and A-Rod. The trio traveled together and ate together a few times, Damon said, giving him a good chance to get acquainted with two players that he mostly knew only as opponents.
Fitting in doesn’t figure to be much of a problem for Damon, who has been more concerned with getting his sore left shoulder healthy. He played through pain during the second half of last season and was diagnosed with tendinitis while at the WBC.
After going 2-for-3 as the DH in the Bombers’ loss to Detroit Tuesday, Damon was asked when he hoped to play in the field again. “Wednesday,” he said. Asked if he’d want to play Thursday night if the Bombers were facing the Twins instead of Boston, Damon nodded and added, “That’s old news.”
Thing is, even Damon knows that will probably never be the case. Two years ago, he helped Boston break the Curse of the Bambino as the Red Sox won their first World Series in 86 years. As much as he wants to be a Yankee now, even he can’t deny that he’ll always be remembered for what he did as a Red Sox.
Tonight is his first spring training game against Boston. Then there will be his first regular-season game at Fenway, then his first game at the Stadium and every time after that there will always be someone who wants to ask about what he did before he put on pinstripes. “It’s never going to be over,” he said recently. “I’m forever in the Red Sox history. That’s how the sport is.”
Even so, Damon would like nothing more than to make conversations about his career extend beyond his Boston accomplishments. Bringing a Series to Red Sox Nation may always be the greatest of his achievements, but Damon doesn’t want it to be the only one of them.
“I think if you do something special in a place, people will always remember,” he said. “You try and leave a mark on the game. That’s another reason why you play – obviously money and the fact that you like it is great, but you want to leave a mark on the game.”
He smiled then, and shrugged.
“I definitely left a mark there,” he said, “and hopefully I can leave one here, too.”
WANG PITCHES: Chien-Ming Wang allowed five runs and seven hits in 32/3 innings of a minor league game Tuesday. The Taiwanese righthander pitched for Triple-A Columbus against Syracuse since the Yankees had their lone off day of the spring.
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