Why I Hate Johnny Damon

Although Johnny Damon neither knows or cares, I’ve resented him for years. Fandom is irrational; so is the disdain toward a player who a fan has never met.

Playing for the Yankees this weekend, Damon continued his strong series against the Royals Sunday, tormenting his former employer.

Johnny Damon betrayed me. As a rookie, he was the Next George Brett, the first player of any significance that our farm system had created in ten years. We thought he would wear Royal Blue for a decade or more. Five years later, he was another player who left as quickly as he could.

I know I shouldn’t blame him – he made more money and achieved more notoriety elsewhere. In other professions, I don’t boo anyone who leaves one job for a better one. Besides, Damon isn’t remotely the best player to leave the Royals for greener pastures. Jermaine Dye and Carlos Beltran are better players. Damon was a good but by no means great center fielder, and I know that a long-term contract for him would not have been the best use of the Royals’ limited resources.

But I despise Damon because he symbolizes the Royals’ recent impotence. No player in his right mind would have stayed here at that time – the team was going nowhere on or off the field. We aren’t even the most high-profile team that Damon jilted in his career – Boston fans are angrier at Damon’s departure from the Red Sox.

That said, he still swings the bat with one hand and throws like my grandmother.