Johnny Damon
From BR Bullpen
Johnny David Damon
- Bats Left, Throws Left
- Height 6' 0", Weight 175 lb.
- High School Dr. Phillips High School
- Debut August 12, 1995
- Born November 5, 1973 in Fort Riley, KS USA
[edit] Biographical Information
Johnny Damon is an above-average offensive and defensive player who has been on several champion teams. His career totals show that he has a chance at the Hall of Fame if he continues to play regularly. Already at age 31 he had appeared in over 1,500 games, had nearly 1,800 hits, and had scored over 1,000 runs. Early in the 2007 season he passed over the 2,000 hit level and the 1,200 runs scored level, at age 33.
His mother was Thai, and he spent much of his childhood as an Army brat. He played high school ball with A.J. Pierzynski.
He was drafted in the first round of the 1992 amateur draft by the Kansas City Royals. He broke in with them for 47 games at age 21 in 1995, on a team that traded base-stealing outfielder Vince Coleman on August 15 of that season. The Royals finished 2nd in the AL Central division, which was to be their highest finish while Damon was with them.
His early years with the Royals were marked by moderately-good batting averages, decent amounts of stolen bases, and a lot of triples. On August 10, 1996, he tied a Royals record for most RBI in a game with seven in an 18-3 romp over the California Angels. That year, he hit in every spot in the order for the Royals. Then, in 2000, he had a peak season, hitting .327, with 42 doubles and 10 triples, and stealing 46 bases, which led the league. He scored 136 runs, which also led the league.
He was traded to the Oakland Athletics for the 2001 season, where he had an off-year, although he hit .409 in post-season play. He also played in 86 games in center field without committing an error (he did commit three errors in 67 games in left field). Jason Giambi was the hitting star of that team.
Damon signed as a free agent with the Boston Red Sox after the 2001 season. In his four seasons with the Red Sox, his stolen bases declined gradually, but his batting averages went up. He also reached a peak of 20 home runs in 2004, and as lead-off man, scored at least 100 runs each season. He was named to the All Star team for the first time in 2002, and repeated in 2005. He hit .286 in the 2004 World Series which Boston swept.
Damon signed another lucrative free agent contract, this time with the New York Yankees, for the 2006 season. He did not miss a beat, scoring 115 runs for his new team, while slugging 24 hiome runs from the lead-off slot in the order. It marked the 9th consecutive season in which he had scored at least 100 runs.
Interestingly enough, the most similar player through age 31 was Tim Raines, and other similar players in the top ten included Pete Rose and Lou Brock.
He appeared in the movie Fever Pitch as himself.
[edit] Notable Achievements
- 1995 MVP Texas League Wichita Wranglers
- 2-time AL All-Star (2002 & 2005)
- AL Runs Scored Leader (2000)
- AL Triples Leader (2002)
- AL Stolen Bases Leader (2000)
- 20-Home Run Seasons: 2 (2004 & 2006)
- 100 Runs Scored Seasons: 9 (1998-2006)
- 200 Hits Seasons: 1 (2000)
- Won a World Series with the Boston Red Sox in 2004
