Quote of the day: Johnny Damon
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- February
- 19
“I’m ready to go out there and prove to everyone that I’m still a pretty good player. I’ve been pretty consistent over my career. But when you talk about good players in the league my name hardly comes up and I don‘t think that’s right. I need to go out there and show them.”
Pretty confident stuff. Damon said he has accepted playing left field and is determined to have a big year. Based on how he looks, he backed up those words by working out diligently this winter.
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on Tuesday, February 19th, 2008 at 6:19 pm by Peter Abraham.
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Peter Abraham
If Damon turns back the clock and is consistent all year the lineup becomes that much better. Assuming Jeter remains a .320 hitter and Damon is getting on base with good regularity, A-Rod, Abreu and Cano will be putting up some big time RBI numbers.
It’s amazing what accountability will do for a team.
Just something I wanted to throw out here to Pete and everyone else (I’m sorry if this was posted already today). It applies to something we were discussing yesterday. Apparently, Pettitte’s and Clemen’s (supposed) use of HGH was NOT illegal according to Will Carroll:
GREGHACK (Lenexa, KS): At the times Pettitte says he took, and it is alleged Clemens took, HGH, was it illegal without a prescription? Was it banned by MLB? And if it was illegal or banned at the time, was there MLB testing for it?
Will Carroll: No, it was not illegal. There’s some question about whether the 2004 use by Pettitte would have fallen under the changed drug control laws. It was not banned until 2005, largely because there was not and is not a scientifically valid test for hGH. It’d be like saying that there’s a law against me thinking about Lindsay Lohan. You can’t tell whether I am or am not unless I tell you. (I am, and I blame Nando Di Fino.)
“Illegal” and “banned” are two things most people don’t understand are different.
What’s more amazing is the pride that fuels a desire to win and end all the speculation… Damon, A-Rod, Giambi, Mussini and many others have not won as Yankees - some have not won period.
rodg,
I think that the “smoking gun” for a lot of people (ahem, media types) is that he used HGH without a scrip.
I dont understand the rumors a couple weeks ago that Damon worked out for 3 days and decided against it? Was it just to diet? Im really glad to here that he has something to prove. Maybe he can do less smiling and more playing. Hopefully he comes in and sees the Yankees as his team and not as a rebound from boston not giving him love.
Hey Pete (or anyone else) - what time do the workouts start tomorrow?? I have to be at the Tampa airport at 1:30 so i’m gonna head over from Orlando and see as much as I can
Here’s a Houston writer talking about Pettitte on the Dan Patrick Show.
I think that his feelings on Andy and the situation mirror a lot of us here.
It’s a good listen.
http://tinyurl.com/3cfst4
This is really off topic, but I can’t wait for Biff Henderson from Letterman to do his little report this year at spring training. It should be really funny with all the young guys there like Joba and Duncan.
O/T, but talk about irony. How ironic is it that Devean George’s concern about his next contract and Jerry Stackhouse’s big yap made Keith Van Horn some serious coin for a month’s worth of work?
From what Pete is writing and from what I have seen in pictures, it seems as though all of the players have come to camp in great shape. Maybe this season they’ll all be ready to go on March 31st and they can avoid another slow start.
Biff massaging A-rod in Central Park was classic!
Jon Heyman said this afternoon on WFAN that when Damon took the 3 days off from spring training last year for personal reasons, he went home to decide if he wanted to retire or keep playing.
mel: It’s great. I remember seeing Van Horn as a rookie in ‘98.
If Damon is ready, so am I.
Hmm, Van Horn being used in the Kidd trade makes me think about if Kittles can come back the same way… xP
There’s a chance that Johnny Damon will get drafted late in fantasy drafts. I’m pretty sure because I did some mock drafts and he was taken late. The way I draft, he should be there so I really hope he has a great year.
Just do it™.
mel:
I think what Will was saying is that using HGH without a prescription was not illegal in 2004. At least, that’s what I took from it. Can anyone verify/deny this (Pete, maybe you can talk to Will to get some clarification)?
it sounds like this team is out to prove something and finally live up to the expectations everyone has had since theyve come together. maybe arods big season last yr was extra motivation for the extra work, but giambi, moose, and damon are all out to prove their worth. cano just signed his big deal and wants to have a big healthy season. wang wants to erase last years postseason. we all love this team and its make up of youth and all stars so this is shaping up to be an interesting season in the bronx. luckily, we still have jeter, posada, rivera, and pettitte to lead the way and with girardi at the helm maybe we have our 27 right around the corner. on a sidenote, i wish hank would sometimes shut his mouth. and im even pulling for farnsworth to have a good season and maybe he can be a huge asset for us. dont tear me apart, i said maybe.
http://www.soaps.com/onelifetolive/comings_and_goings/
Jorge is going to be on one life to live.
I can’t wait to see Johnny’s sexy calves!
Speaking of Farnsworth, has anyone heard how his leg infection is doing? Staf infections can be nasty, just ask Alex Rios. I wonder if Farnsworth is participating with the rest of the pitchers.
Rocco, me too!
“has anyone heard how his leg infection is doing? ”
It’s over and done with. it was several months ago. It affected his offseason program, which is reportedly why he’s not as overmuscled as he was last year.
Loved the random thoughts post. It brought me back to the original spirit of this blog.
Thanks whozat. Or maybe he’s mot as muscled cuz he’s off the ‘roids. Roid rage can be about the only explanation for his behavior the last couple of years. That or sheer ignorance. I’m very leery of Girardi’s optimism for this guy.
http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080219&content_id=349065&vkey=news_milb&fext=.jsp
i really hope we can bring cashman back post 08. hes rebuilt our entire system and to kick him out now that his system is coming to fruition would be whack
I am listening to Boomer and idiots interview of Tino. Boomer went off on the topic of Tino’s program. And Idiot kept going back to roids, McNamee, and is looking over his numbers. This guy makes me sick!
HA-HA, Boomer is a jerk as well. Tried to make it off like he knew that Tino was going to end the interview. Tino should have told them off.
i wonder if Boomer will respond to Hanks comments on the NFL?
pat,
What??? That story on Damon makes no sense. Of course, I have no respect for Heyman since he became an apologist for the alleged rapist, apparently because McNamee gave him an “exclusive.” However, that’s a weird thing to just throw out there. I had never heard even a hint about what Damon’s absence was due to.
I don’t listen to their show anymore not after crude comments Carton made a few weeks ago. I just emailed “programing” funny thing is the email address is fanmail. Well they didn’t get fan mail from me.
Anyway I keep saying I am not going to talk about it anymore. Hopefully I’ll keep my word.
Im suprised Pete didnt post about Derek Jeter hitting on and striking out with Sienna Miller.
I know tabloid and personal lives are rarely his thing, but still couldve made come good comments on the board.
http://www.pagesix.com/story/derek+strikes+out
i really hope Damon has a good year, steal another 25-30 bases, hit over 300. maybe 15-20 homers, he really could help us at the top of our lineup, glad to hear he is motivated to do better
Sounds good, I hope Damon has a great start to the season, when healthy he is a great spark for our offense.
http://aroundthemajors.blogspot.com/
I’m excited for Johnny. I still think he is a great player, and if he stays healthy, he will be a huge asset to this team. Him leading off (and being efficient) makes our offense much scarier.
Clare
He said Damon told him that today. Kind of caught me off guard too.
It’s great news that it seems everyone is coming to camp ready to play and win.
Now, I doubt his name will come up in a discussion of very good players unless he has a great, great season. He’s on a team with Alex Rodriguez, Jeter, Posada, Cano, Wanger, Andy, Mo, and Wilson Betamit.
How long before he has a nagging injury/excuse as to why he has to sit every few days, can’t find his rythm. words from Damon are pretty meaningless. This guy got a HUGE contract and has shown little. That is why he is never mentioned among the premiere lefties. he isn’t even the best lefty on his own team, in fact i would say that based on average, power and “clutchness” yeah thats my new word, i go Robbie, Jorge(cause he hits lefty too), Aboo-boo, then Johnny.
Damon’s ego knows no bounds. He’s worried all of a sudden that he isn’t mentioned with the best players? Wake up Johnny, you’ve never been mentioned in with the best players. What the heck has he been smoking in the offseason? I wish they’d traded him quite honestly and from what I’ve heard, they really wanted to.