New Yorkers Seething Over Damon

I know, it’s not just New Yorkers. Seemingly every time a player signs a free agent deal with another club, the fans and sometimes media in the jilted city take up arms and go about bashing the player. He was greedy, he’s just about the money, he’s got no integrity. Usually, this happens when a player leaves a smaller market to take the big bucks from the Yankees.

This time, for once, the shoe is on the other foot.

When I was a boy, my grandfather taught me about baseball. I grew to love the Tigers as he did. Almost more than that, perhaps, I grew to loathe the Yankees. That loathing has only gotten stronger as I have aged. In a life filled with watching hapless Tigers teams that missed out on the playoffs every year between 1987 and 2006, I had to put up with the Yankees. I had to watch as they outspent everyone else and won World Series after World Series. They even took away Cecil Fielder and brought him along for their 1996 title. Bastards.

So forgive me if I have a little fun with this one. Reactions from New York after the jump.

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From Bob Klapisch:

Damon can talk all he wants about being happy in Detroit — he said, “I feel like I belong here” — but in his most private moments surely realizes he and Boras blew it.

For that extra $1 million, Damon will trade off Yankee Stadium’s cozy right field for Comerica Park’s cavernous dimensions. Forget about those 24 home runs Damon hit in 2009. While Yankee Stadium ranked first (easiest) in the majors in park-factor for home runs in 2009, Comerica was 18th. It also was 21st in doubles, 15th in triples.

From Jason on the appropriately named Yankees blog It’s About the Money, Stupid:

There’s no way around the fact that Damon and Boras misread the market, badly, and their turning their noses at the Yanks larger (in total dollars, years) looks now like a big mistake.

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I almost feel bad for Dave Dombrowski. Boras pulled the end-around, donned his surgical gloves, and put his hand up owner Mike Ilitch’s backside to stroke his brain into offering Damon more than any other team was gonna offer.

And finally, a fierce bit of venom from FanSided’s own Andrew Corselli of Yanks Go Yard:

“I actually feel like I belong here.” Are you kidding me? That is just absurd. You only feel like you belong because you got the most money. You’re clearly just blowing smoke up Detroit’s ass.

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The only reason Damon ever left Boston was because they wouldn’t give him a four-year deal. So, as I said before, YOU ARE FULL OF SHIT AND I HATE YOU, JOHNNY DAMON! You really burned a bridge in this case and I hope you tear an ACL in spring training.

I can’t wait ’til next offseason when you bolt town and Detroit fans get to see what a greedy bastard you really are. People of Detroit: It’s only a matter of time before this (certain word that’s a no-no with umpires) stabs you in the back for a little more money. Don’t be fooled by what he says, he did it to Boston and now he’s done it to New York.

He comes off like a guy who’s just happy to don your team’s cap, but that’s just because Scott Boras is putting words in his mouth. He doesn’t care about the Tigers, just that they are sending him a check every payday.

Now, I’m not gonna look it up, but I bet you can find pretty much the exact same sentiments were written about A.J. Burnett and CC Sabathia last season, when they signed with the Yankees. If nothing else, It’s good to see the Yankees fans going through a bit of how the rest of the league (minus Boston) feels on an annual basis.

There will be time to get into all the ins and outs of dissecting Damon’s defense and figuring out how his offense will translate to the CoPa. For now, I’m just gonna spend the rest of the morning sitting back and smiling while I scour the Yankees blogs for more reactions like the ones above.

The only thing better than a Tigers win is a Tigers win over the Yankees. Today is a good day, friends.

Tags: Johnny Damon, New York Yankees