The subject is tiresome. BUT, if I don’t address it, I’ll be responding to comments and/or emails all day tomorrow about it.
Which, I’ll probably be doing anyway. But at least I’ll have my opinion out there first.
Bottom line for me: Johnny didn’t like the offer the Red Sox made, even though the offer was a dam fine one, so Johnny jumped on the offer New York made. An over-blown, ridiculous offer, but the offer Johnny took nonetheless.
This, after telling fans that it wouldn’t be about the money and that he’d never go to the Yankees. Check that, John.
Then he pretty much spent the entire off-season convincing Red Sox fans that he was a victim and it was the big, bad Front Office that forced him into signing with the Evil Empire. Got it, John.
THEN he insults the fans he betrayed by saying that the intelligent fans won’t boo him when he gets back to Fenway. I’m pretty sure even ARod and Jeter have never insulted the Red Sox fans. Thanks for that, John.
So, as you can probably guess, I won’t be cheering for Johnny this week. Granted, I won’t be at Fenway, so it won’t matter. But I certainly hope there are more boos than cheers.
Ian Browne, a very talented writer for MLB.com who covers the Red Sox, thinks I’m wrong. He thinks that "Damon absolutely deserves to be cheered during his first at-bat on Monday. This guy did nothing but play hard and play hurt and come through in the clutch for his entire four years in Boston. He made a business decision to go to the Yankees, just like the Red Sox made a business decision not to keep him."
My questions are these: 1) The Red Sox made Damon an offer. They did NOT make a business decision to not keep him. Johnny made a business decision to not take the offer.
Wait, that isn’t a question. I have one. Really, I do.
Did Ian, and anyone else who thinks Johnny deserves to be cheered (at the very least) during his first at-bat, NOT attend a game in Fenway in 2005? I attended many games at Fenway AND on the road last year, and I’m here to tell you that Johnny got MORE than his fair share of cheers. We adored him and we showed him that adoration every freaking day.
And he thumbed his nose to us as he walked out the door to the Bronx.
So, with all due respect to Mr. Browne and those who feel as he does, no way.
I’ll be at Fenway on Friday night. The Orioles are in town. Kevin Millar’s first visit to Fenway since he signed with Baltimore. And I’ll cheer him until I’m hoarse. As, I believe, will most of the fans at Fenway that night. Millar was a victim of a changing team ideal and his poor(ish) performance last year.
Damon is no victim. Damon picked his poison and now wants it both ways. He wants to be a Yankee, because that is what he was ‘born’ to be…but he wants the Red Sox fans to love him.
Sorry, Johnny. Life doesn’t work that way.
I’m doing something I don’t normally do. My links list is here for all to see, but I’m going to single out a few so that you all can see that I’m not alone here. Not that I care if I’m alone – I don’t…but the idea that my opinion is the exception and not the norm, well, that isn’t quite accurate.
Dispatches from Red Sox Teen Nation
A Red Sox Fan in Pinstripe Territory
Reb Sox – I like Reb’s alternate suggestion. Instead of booing or cheering…just silence.
Hey, Witch City Sox Girl is down with the silence too!
Edited, again, to add my beloved Red at Surviving Grady, and to note that although he hasn’t written about it yet, my man Peter is on the same page as the rest of us!
And finally, a quote from Dover from the comments on Red’s entry today:
"Beautiful post today, Red. And to all those who want to cheer Johnny, where were they last year? I was at Fenway thanking him for 2004.
If Sox fans have to be convinced to boo a Yankee then the terrorists have already won."
RIGHT ON, SISTER!
Okay, it’s a small sampling…but only because some bloggers haven’t mentioned Johnny and the boo/cheer ‘controversy’.
I’ve only found one "cheer Johnny" blog. I don’t love the idea of linking it, but why not, right?
It’s called, big surprise, Cheer Johnny. Interestingly enough, some readers emailed me to tell me they emailed the blogger at that site to tell her why they wouldn’t be cheering Johnny, and she wasn’t too pleasant about it…nor did she bother to post any negative comments. You can’t comment on the site, but I think reading it will pretty much do the trick.
Oh, and there is Ken Rosenthal. Who hasn’t a clue what he’s talking about, so I’m not sure why he’s even chiming in. But there you go.
The more I think about it, the more I like the silence idea. I wish I was going to be at Fenway so I could turn my back to Johnny and stand silent…with my "Coco" t-shirt on, showing Johnny who the center fielder is we now care about.
But if a few folks start chanting "Coco’s better!", well, I could stand that too.
(Edited just to put it at the top this morning since this is a much more fitting post for this morning than for last night!)
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