Few players have had a true Jekyll and Hyde relationship with the Yankees quite like Johnny Damon. I personally never thought I’d be able to move past his role in helping end the curse back in 2004. However, the gritty, fun-loving Damon cleanup up his look and image before playing his way into the positive side of Yankees history.
Johnny David Damon
Born: November 5, 1973 (Fort Riley, KS)
Yankees Tenure: 2006-09
Damon was born on a military base in Kansas but bounced around quite a bit during his childhood.
His father was a sergeant in the United States Army, and his mother was a Thai immigrant. Growing up with a stutter, Damon was a quiet child but eventually came into his own through sports. In addition to his baseball talents, he flashed elite athleticism on the track at Dr. Phillips High School in Orlando, finishing as the runner-up in the 200-meter dash during his senior year.
In 1992, Damon was rated the top high school prospect in the country by Baseball America. That led to him being selected by the Kansas City Royals with the 35th overall pick in the supplemental first round of the MLB Draft. Damon worked his way through the minors and made his major league debut on August 12, 1995.
Kansas City was Damon’s home for six seasons. Over that stretch, he developed into a solid big leaguer, using his left-handed swing to produce 17.3 WAR while hitting 65 home runs, stealing 156 bases, and slashing .292/.351/.438. He also established himself as a versatile outfielder. In his final season with the Royals, Damon led the American League in both runs scored with 136 and stolen bases with 46. KC traded him that offseason, with only one year of team control remaining, to the Oakland Athletics as part of a three-team deal that also involved the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.
Damon spent one season, 2001, in Oakland. His production slipped some, but for the first time in his career, he got to play postseason baseball. Facing the Yankees in the ALDS, Damon made a great first impression, collecting nine hits over the five games and slashing .409/.435/.591. The Yankees prevailed, with the series highlighted by Derek Jeter’s famous flip to home in Game 3.
Reaching free agency for the first time ahead of the 2002 season, Damon agreed to a four-year deal with the Red Sox. Those four years would be some of the best of his career, as he made his only two All-Star teams in 2002 and 2005 while helping Boston end the Curse of the Bambino in 2004 with 20 homers and some memorable ALCS moments against New York. When he reached free agency following the 2005 season, it seemed likely that the beloved Caveman would stay with his fellow Idiots in Boston. However, the Yankees and their purse strings had other plans.
In December 2005, Damon signed a four-year, $52 million deal to switch sides and join the Bombers. At a time when the Yankees’ hair and grooming policies were still firmly in place, it was a big deal. Damon shaved his iconic beard and cut his flowing locks to fit in with his new teammates. With a new look, Damon hit .285 with 24 home runs in 2006 while playing 131 games in center field. He also joined legends Lou Gehrig and Stan Musial in the record books by posting his ninth consecutive season with at least 100 runs scored and 30 doubles. The Yankees finally had a leadoff hitter to insert at the top of the order, and things looked promising as the team won the AL East. Unfortunately, they couldn’t get out of the Division Series, falling to Detroit in four games.
The 2007 campaign saw Damon’s numbers slip some as he took on a different role, splitting time between left field, center field, and designated hitter. He hit .270 with 144 hits, 27 doubles, 12 home runs, 63 RBIs, and 27 stolen bases in 141 games. The team again flamed out in the ALDS, but Damon did all he could in the losing effort, batting .278 with two home runs.
After years of disappointment in the playoffs, the Yankees missed the 2008 postseason altogether. However, the 34-year-old still played well, even as he dealt with injuries. In a testament to his availability and durability, Damon landed on the disabled list for the first time in his career with a shoulder sprain suffered on a wall collision. Despite that setback, he still played 143 games and slashed .303/.375/.461 with 17 home runs, and he went a career-best 6-for-6 on June 7th against the Royals, capping it off with a walk-off hit to right. Damon is one of only three Yankees in MLB history to register a six-hit game, alongside Myril Hoag and Gerald Williams.
Still serving as the table setter, Damon helped the reloaded 2009 Yankees return to October. The veteran took a liking to the new Yankee Stadium and became a regular Short Porch threat, tying his career high with 24 homers and a 118 OPS+.
All told, Damon hit .282 with 155 hits, 36 doubles, 24 home runs, 82 RBIs, and 107 runs scored. Despite a sluggish ALDS against Minnesota, he recovered to hit .300 with a a big homer in the ALCS as the Yankees brushed past the Angels to win the pennant.
Damon continued to deliver in the Fall Classic, as he collected eight hits, scored six runs, and drove in four with an .895 OPS as the Yankees prevailed in six games over the Phillies. One of Damon’s most memorable moments in pinstripes came during game four when he grinded out an single with two outs and then stole second and third before scoring what would be the winning run. Despite his contributions to the championship run, the Yankees decided to let Damon walk as a free agent, instead trading for Curtis Granderson and allowing an up-and-comer named Brett Gardner to take on a bigger role.
In free agency, Damon signed a one-year deal with the Tigers for the 2010 season, where he remained productive but saw his power deep away from the Short Porch. The next year, he joined the Rays for the 2011 campaign, posting his last productive season and notably hitting his final career postseason home run during their ALDS loss to Texas. Chasing a dark-horse bid for 3,000 hits, Damon found a spot with Cleveland in 2012, but he was out of gas and released in August with a .610 OPS. He couldn’t find another taker and settled into retirement.
Over his 18-season MLB career, Damon built a reputation as one of baseball’s premier leadoff hitters and most durable outfielders. He finished his career with a .284 batting average, 2,769 hits, 235 home runs, 1,139 RBIs, 1,668 runs scored, and 408 stolen bases across 2,490 games. Damon garnered only eight votes in his only Hall of Fame ballot appearance in 2018, too few for future consideration by the BBWAA. Still, plenty agree that, despite some controversies after his playing days, he belongs as a first-ballot member of the Hall of Very Good.
Happy birthday, Johnny!
See more of the “Yankees Birthday of the Day” series here.
