OAKLAND – Johnny Damon knows he shouldn’t be this excited, or this wide-eyed, or this keyed up. He isn’t a kid any longer, after all. He has done Opening Day 10 times now, for three different teams in a host of different cities. He has lived through Octobers that ended both in heartbreak and ecstasy. He’s 32 years old. The rose-colored glasses should have been stuffed in an attic by now.
“What can I say?” Damon said the other day, ice swaddling his banged-up shoulder, a smile wrapped around his face. “I know people think when you get up there at a press conference and you say all these nice things about the Yankees, you’re doing it because you’re supposed to, you’re doing it because they’re paying you all this money. It’s easy to believe that none of it’s terribly sincere. I know that.”
The smile merged into a laugh here, and a giddy one at that.
“But what can I say? I was excited the day they introduced me at the stadium. I was excited the moment I put my signature on the contract. I was beside myself on the first day of spring training, when it all became real, for good. And now all I think about is what it’s going to be like getting introduced [tonight] at the coliseum in Oakland, leading off for the New York Yankees on Opening Day. Yeah, it’s corny, corny as hell. What can I tell you? It’s what I feel.”
This has been a recurring theme for Damon from the moment he swam across baseball’s deepest moat and dragged himself onto shore wearing pinstripes. How long has it been since we’ve had a guy like this in town, a guy who not only doesn’t feel contempt for the fans, but also one who you get the sense wouldn’t mind kicking back and popping open a few cold ones with you between innings if nobody were paying attention?
How long has it been since a big-ticket guy came to town and wore the pinstripes with a smile, looking like he’d just won the Irish Sweepstakes instead of looking like he’d just gotten the chair? Think about all the imports the Yankees have bought since their last World Series win in 2000, and what’s the first image that comes to mind?
* Mike Mussina: Couldn’t have looked less comfortable if someone was slipping bamboo under his fingernails.
* Jason Giambi: Stared into the cameras like a nervous anchorman and delivered his lines haltingly, a good-time gadfly stripped of his wings and his personality.
* Alex Rodriguez: As corporate as a three-martini lunch.
* Randy Johnson: Looked like he was cutting a hostage tape.
* Johnny Damon: Acted like he’d been waiting for this moment, and this stage, his whole life, which in many ways he was. When the signing happened just before Christmas, it seemed like a perfect fit, and 3 ½ months later it’s only become more so. He has the right personality, the right make-up, the right temperament for New York, which is nice.
And he has the perfect game for the Yankees, which is better.
It’s difficult to remember a season when the Yankees have engendered such wild wonder, even judged against the rabid standards of the past few years, only because it sure seems possible that they could put eight and nine and 10 runs on the scoreboard any time they feel like it. The lineup is that strong, bursting with life from top to bottom and spilling onto the bench, too. Whether that’ll be enough in October . . . geez, we have six months to have that conversation.
What’s wrong with just sitting back and enjoying what this batting order is capable of?
“It’s staggering to me, the opportunity all of us have this year but especially me, because I’m at the top of the order and if all goes well the guys behind me are going to be chasing me around the bases all season long,” Damon said. “If you’re a lead-off hitter, this is the kind of lineup you dream about, because it’s a serious responsibility being the guy who sets the table for everyone else. I just can’t wait to see what we can do.”
On the doorstep of another Yankee summer, Damon is far from the only one harboring such curiosities.
—
2006 Yankee payroll
Derek Jeter $20,600,000
Jason Giambi $20,428,572
Mike Mussina $19,000,000
Randy Johnson $16,000,000
Alex Rodriguez $15,000,000
Johnny Damon $13,000,000
Hideki Matsui $13,000,000
Gary Sheffield $13,000,000
Jorge Posada $12,000,000
Mariano Rivera $10,500,000
a-Carl Pavano $8,000,000
Jaret Wright $7,666,667
Kyle Farnsworth $5,416,667
Shawn Chacon $3,600,000
b-Javier Vazquez $3,000,000
Ron Villone $2,250,000
a-Octavio Dotel $2,000,000
Tanyon Sturtze $1,500,000
Bernie Williams $1,500,000
a-Aaron Small $1,200,000
Mike Myers $1,150,000
Miguel Cairo $1,000,000
b-Tony Womack $900,000
Kelly Stinnett $650,000
Robinson Cano $381,100
Bubba Crosby $354,250
Scott Proctor $353,675
Chien-Ming Wang $353,175
Andy Phillips $331,950
Wil Nieves $328,600
TOTAL $194,464,656
a-Player on the DL
b-Amount of a traded contract the Yanks owe for this season
Salaries include pro-rated signing bonuses. Contract deferrals are not included. Contract deferrals owed former
players are not included.
– Compiled by Joel Sherman