Time To Bury The Hatchet With Damon

Posted on March 23, 2010 by Soxy Lady

Damon is no longer part of the Evil Empire.

What do the following people have in common?

Johnny Damon

Ramiro Mendoza

Eric Hinske

Tony Cloninger

Dale Sveum

Gary Tuck

According to the New York Post they are the only people who have World Series rings from both the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees. Surprising, right? You’d think there would be some more, ummmm….iconic players/coaches on that list. But considering history…this is it.

I don’t really have much to say about any of those men, with the exception of Johnny Demon Damon. I have to (wo)man up and admit it might be time to bury the hatchet with him.

There is no surprise that as a member of RSN I’ve had hard feelings towards the self-proclaimed idiot. I’ve personally lashed out more than once about him. I’ve called him every name in the book, I’ve sat down during his announcements at Fenway Park (I would like to point out I never booed the man), I’ve laughed at the thought of him potentially being unemployed this season (until the Tigers stepped up)….but I’ve also loved him.

I loved him when he was a member of the 2002, 2003 and beloved 2004 Red Sox. He made me cry when he was carried off of the field after colliding with Damian Jackson in the outfield. He had me screaming out “What Would Johnny Damon Do?!” more than once. He hit a grand-slam against the Yankees in the game 7 2004 ALCS, which was just as exciting, if not more exciting, than winning the World Series in my eyes. He rode the duck boats through the streets of Boston, where I cheered at the top of my lungs out of sheer joy and excitement.

Johnny was my homeboy.

That is, until he went to the Yankees in 2005.

It honestly and truly felt like a betrayal to me. There is no other way to describe it. I was hurt. Johnny let ME down personally.

But here is the thing. I have had no hard feelings towards any other member of the 2004 Red Sox who are no longer with the team…except maybe a few for Manny, but that’s just because he was “being Manny.” I don’t have hard feelings for Eric Hinske, who is up there on that same list with Damon. In short, I was being a jerk.

It’s time for me to bury the hatchet on my hatred of Johnny Damon. I will cheer on May 14th (albeit while watching my television) when he steps up to bat against the Red Sox. I will try and get tickets to the July 30th game so I can cheer him in person, at Fenway Park. I would like to finally give him that standing ovation he so much deserves.

I just hope he’ll accept my cheers and congratulations after all these years.

SoxyLady has been a sports fan since birth. Visit SoxyLady on her blog, Facebook or Twitter.

Tags: Baseball, Boston, Boston Red Sox, detroit tigers, Johnny Damon, major league baseball, SoxyLady
Category Baseball, Boston Red Sox, General
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BST&N Looks Back....

Vintage Athlete Of The Month: Andy Brickley
April 21, 2012 | 11:06 am

Andy Brickley

Andy Brickley’s voice is familiar throughout New England and to those of us out-of-market fans who get the NESN broadcasts via the NHL’s Center Ice package. Brickley is the top TV analyst for Boston Bruins’ hockey games. Most fans know he was a part of Boston’s 1989-90 teams that reached the Stanley Cup Finals. What many fans may not know is how hard Brickley has had to work for everything in his career. To pay tribute to his effort and to acknowledge his tremendous contributions to the culture of Boston Bruins hockey is why he is BST&N’s Vintage Athlete Of The Month for April.

The need to prove himself to skeptics started right away in college. Brickley went to school at New Hampshire, but had to walk on the hockey team. He made the squad and played all four years, from 1979-82. By the end of his career he had made first-team All-American and led New Hampshire to the Frozen Four in his senior year.

Two years into his college career he was selected in the NHL Entry Draft, but by the skin of his teeth—Brickley was the final player chosen in a 210-player draft, going to the Philadelphia Flyers. He began his pro career there in the fall of 1982, but a year later he was traded to Pittsburgh, as part of a package involving multiple players and draft picks.

By rights, this should have been the point when his career took off. He scored 18 goals in 50 games, the highest goal output of his career and also had 12 assists. But he ended up demoted to the minor leagues for the egregious sin of breaking curfew. To put the early 1980s in perspective, this was a time when frequent reports of players’ cocaine addictions were becoming public—in all sports. Seen in that light, the idea of demoting Brickley because he broke curfew seems absurd beyond belief.

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