Johnny Damon

Johnny Damon is the guy who hit a grand slam to help bury the New York Yankees in the 2004 ALCS, then signed with them fourteen months later and became the leadoff hitter on the team that finally got them back to the top in 2009. That's not a footnote. That's basically the whole story.

From Fenway's Folk Hero to Public Enemy

Before any of that, Damon was Boston property -- a shaggy-haired, bearded center fielder (Fenway loved to call it the Jesus look, though nobody in the Bronx was going to say that with a straight face) who helped coin the "Idiots" label for the 2004 Red Sox and looked the part doing it. He hit a second-inning grand slam off Javier Vazquez in Game 7 of that year's ALCS, the game that finished off the Red Sox' comeback from down 0-3 against the very team he'd be wearing pinstripes for by the following December. Boston won its first title since 1918. Damon added another homer later that same game, in case the first one hadn't made the point.

Then, on December 20, 2005, he signed a four-year, $52 million deal with New York. Red Sox fans, understandably, never really got over it (his first trip back to Fenway in 2006 was about as warm as you'd expect). He'd told MLB.com back in May 2005 there was "no way" he'd play for the Yankees -- he later said that was about disrespect from Boston's front office, not a hard no on New York, but nobody remembers the nuance. They remember the beard coming off.

Shaving for Steinbrenner

George Steinbrenner's facial-hair policy meant the Caveman look had to go the moment Damon put on the interlocking NY. "George Steinbrenner has a policy and I'm going to stick to it," he said, and that was that (no negotiation, no grace period, just a razor). It's still one of the more jarring image changes the rivalry has ever produced -- go find the before-and-after photos if you haven't.

Four Years, One Ring

Damon's Yankees tenure ran 2006 through 2009, and the numbers held up well the whole way: .285/.363/.458 with 77 home runs, 295 RBI, and 93 stolen bases across 576 games. He debuted on April 3, 2006, going 3-for-5 as the Yankees hung 15 runs on Oakland, then hit .285 with a career-tying 24 homers in his first Bronx season. In 2007 he settled into a timeshare between center, left, and DH (.270, 12 HR, 62 RBI) as the club won 94 games and grabbed a wild card. In 2008, with Melky Cabrera handling center field and the whole team missing October for the first time in over a decade (a genuine shock to a fan base that treats the playoffs as a birthright), Damon quietly had his best average as a Yankee -- .303, his only season north of .300 in pinstripes. Nobody talks about that '08 season because there was no October to attach it to, but the bat never slowed down.

None of that tops 2009. Batting leadoff for a 103-win team, Damon hit .282 with 24 home runs, 82 RBI, and 107 runs scored -- tied for fourth in the American League. He was the table-setter for a lineup that steamrolled its way to the franchise's 27th championship.

The Play Everybody Remembers

Game 4 of the 2009 World Series, tied 4-4 in the ninth. Damon singles off Brad Lidge, then steals second -- and, noticing nobody's covering third with the infield shifted, just keeps going and takes that base too. Two bags on one pitch. Alex Rodriguez doubles him home, the Yankees win 7-4, and New York takes a 3-1 World Series lead it won't relinquish. It's the single most-repeated Johnny Damon highlight in franchise history, and it happened because a bad shift left third base standing wide open.

He'd also delivered in the 2007 ALDS, launching a three-run homer against Cleveland in an 8-4 Game 3 win at the Stadium -- not enough to save that series, which Cleveland closed out the next night, but a reminder that Damon's bat showed up when October did.

By January 2010, Brian Cashman had moved on to Randy Winn instead, and Damon's Yankees run ended at four seasons. He signed one-year deals with Detroit, Tampa Bay, and Cleveland before retiring with 2,769 career hits and two championship rings -- one with the rival he left, one with the team he joined.

Damon never got the sentimental send-off some of his 2009 teammates got -- Cashman moved on to Randy Winn that January, and that was that. But he's the answer to one of the better "wait, really?" trivia questions in Yankees history: the guy who hit a grand slam to help finish off the Yankees in 2004 turned around and became the leadoff man who helped start the next championship five years later.