Johnny Damon

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Profile Overview of Johnny Damon

Johnny David Damon (born November 5, 1973) is an American former professional baseball outfielder who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1995 to 2012. During his MLB career, Damon played for the Kansas City Royals (1995–2000), Oakland Athletics (2001), Boston Red Sox (2002–2005), New York Yankees (2006–2009), Detroit Tigers (2010), Tampa Bay Rays (2011) and Cleveland Indians (2012). He also played for the Thailand national baseball team and was a member of the squad for the 2013 World Baseball Classic qualifiers.

This profile of Johnny Damon covers Early Life and Family Background, Kansas City Royals (1995–2000), Oakland Athletics (2001), Boston Red Sox (2002–2005) and New York Yankees (2006–2009).

Early Life and Family Background of Johnny Damon

Damon was born in Fort Riley, a U.S. Army post in Kansas. His mother, Yome, is a Thai immigrant to the United States and his father, Jimmy, is an American of Croatian and Irish descent. They met while his father, a staff sergeant in the United States Army, was stationed in Thailand. Damon spent much of his infancy as an "Army brat," moving to several posts including Okinawa, Japan, and West Germany before his father was discharged from the Army. The Damon family settled in the Orlando, Florida, area while Johnny was a pre-schooler.

Damon was a quiet child, largely on account of a stutter. "My thoughts just raced ahead of my tongue," Damon said of his problem. "I'd sing songs as therapy, and I got better, but I still just kept quiet most of the time." He played in South Orange Little League as a child. He played for the Walker Jr. High baseball team before attending Dr. Phillips High School in Orlando where, during his senior year in 1992, he was rated the top high school prospect in the country by Baseball America, was named to USA Today's High School All-America team and was the Florida Gatorade Player of the Year. Damon also ran track at Dr. Phillips where his senior year he was runner up in the 200m dash. Damon also played football in high school, once getting hit by Warren Sapp and sustaining the first concussion in his life.

Kansas City Royals (1995–2000) of Johnny Damon

Damon was selected by the Kansas City Royals in the first round (35th overall) of the 1992 MLB draft. He made his MLB debut on August 12, 1995, after playing the previous season with the minor league Wichita Wranglers. He played for the Royals from 1995 to 2000. He scored 104 runs in 1998 and 101 runs in 1999. One of his best seasons came in 2000 when he led the American League in runs with 136 and stolen bases with 46, and he was second in hits (214), at bats (655), and plate appearances (741).

Oakland Athletics (2001)

Damon spent 2001 with the Oakland Athletics. In a three-way trade involving the A's, Royals, and Tampa Bay Devil Rays, the A's received Damon along with pitcher Cory Lidle from the Devil Rays and second baseman Mark Ellis from the Royals. He was third in the league in at bats (644) and seventh in runs (108).

Boston Red Sox (2002–2005)

On December 21, 2001, Damon signed a four-year, $31 million contract with the Boston Red Sox.

In 2002, he led the league in triples (11) and was third in infield hits (25), becoming the first player selected by the fans in the inaugural American League All-Star Final Vote.

On June 27, 2003, Damon became only the second player in MLB history since 1900 to record three base hits in an inning, when he did so against the Florida Marlins. During Game 5 of the 2003 American League Division Series, Damon collided head-on with teammate Damian Jackson while both players were attempting to chase down a pop fly. Damon suffered a severe concussion and had to be removed from the field on a stretcher. Jackson was also concussed, but could walk off the field with assistance.

In 2004, Damon was second in the league in runs (123) and began to re-establish himself among the premier lead-off hitters and center fielders in the game. In his best season in the Major Leagues, Damon batted.304 with 20 home runs and 94 RBIs and showed improved patience at the plate. According to his autobiography, he was only the fourth leadoff batter in the history of Major League Baseball to drive in more than 90 runs in a season. Damon batted a torrid 7-for-15 during that year's Division Series against the Angels but struggled in the ALCS against the Yankees, going only 3-for-29 from the plate through the first six games. In Game 7, Damon hit two home runs, one of which was a grand slam, to lead the Red Sox to the pennant. In the World Series, he also hit a home run as the Red Sox won the series against the St. Louis Cardinals in a four-game sweep. This was the first Red Sox World Series championship since 1918, effectively terminating the Boston Red Sox's 86-year "Curse of the Bambino" World Series drought.

Through his four-year career with the Red Sox (2002–2005), Damon appeared in 597 games (590 in center field and seven as a designated hitter) and hit 56 home runs. Of his 2,476 at bats, 2,259 were as leadoff hitter. Damon batted second in the lineup for 156 at-bats in 2002, accounting for nearly all of the rest except for occasional pinch hit. He started two games as the third hitter in 2004, and in 2005, he had 624 at-bats, and all but three as the lead-off hitter. He also earned his second All-Star selection, starting as the American League's center fielder. He led the AL with 35 infield hits, and matched the 35 doubles he had hit in 2004.

New York Yankees (2006–2009)

On December 20, 2005, Damon signed a four-year, $52 million contract with the New York Yankees. The Red Sox stood firm on a three-year contract and chose not to negotiate against a five-year deal proposed by agent Scott Boras.

Damon's signing with the Yankees led to his being later vilified by many Red Sox fans because of his previously professed loyalty to the city and Red Sox organization, including his now infamous statement in May 2005, where he claimed, "There's no way I can go play for the Yankees, but I know they're going to come after me hard. It's definitely not the most important thing to go out there for the top dollar, which the Yankees are going to offer me. It's not what I need."

As the Yankees had a strict dress code for players forbidding both long hair and facial hair beyond neat mustaches (the latter requirement being relaxed in 2025), Damon had his shoulder-length "cave man" hair cut and beard shaved on December 22. Damon, who had a clean-cut appearance until his third season with the Red Sox, had been planning on cutting his hair and shaving his beard off even if he did not sign with the Yankees, but waited until after he signed with them to prevent speculation.

Source: adapted from Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Damon), text available under CC BY-SA 4.0.