Johnny Damon joined BT and Sal on Tuesday to talk Subway Series, Yankees/Red Sox, and still being part of the last Yankee team to win a World Series title.
The former Yankee outfielder didn’t waste much time in making it known that he had wanted to remain in pinstripes after winning that 2009 title, and wondered if his exit began a curse in the Bronx like the one Damon helped break in Boston at the Yankees’ expense five years prior.
“It’s been 15 years since the Yankees have been back [to the World Series],” Damon said. “I know I helped break the Curse of the Bambino. Maybe I turned another curse of Johnny Damon for the Yankees. We’ll see what they can do. I’ve been rooting for them, I like the team, but damn, they got rid of me at a time when we just won a championship.”
Damon made it clear that he was disappointed in the team’s interest level in retaining him, as Damon was coming off a year in which he matched a career-high with 24 home runs, and posted an OPS of .854, his highest since that curse-breaking 2004 campaign with Boston. His double steal in game four of the 2009 World Series proved to be one of the more clutch plays in that season, but he wound up signing with the Tigers on a one-year, $8 million deal.
“I believe we could have won some more,” Damon said. “I helped bring CC to the team, I helped bring AJ Burnett. We had one year together, a championship year together. I don’t know, I do believe I was a much better baseball player than they thought.
“They all loved me. [Joe] Girardi loved me, [hitting coach] Kevin Long loved me, the team loved me. We didn’t have much of a negotiation. They came at me with two years, $14 million after coming off that year. I wanted to negotiate and reach a contract. Unfortunately, they brought back Nick Johnson, and the rest is history.”
Damon believed he had more to give in New York, though he did decline in 2010, hitting just eight home runs with a .756 OPS with the Tigers. Meanwhile, the Yankees handed the left field keys over to youngster Brett Gardner, who hit .277 with a .762 OPS while stealing 47 bases, helping him finish second on the team that season in WAR, behind only Robinson Cano.
“My time in New York was fantastic,” Damon said. “Unfortunately, things just don’t work out the way you want them to.”