The title was a play on "demons"...I just couldn't think of anything else.
What I'd like to discuss here is the following:
Over the past few years Damon became one of the most popular Red Sox players of all time. Now this can be debated, but the guy was a major player in bringing the Old Towne a World Series. He was a bonified rock star. There were people dressing like him in the stands. He had the grand slam in Game 7 against the Yankees, etc...
Now he's a Yankee.
So what? Old news, you say? Well, yes, it is. But this is what I want to know. This isn't Mendoza going to the Sox. This isn't Embree going to NY. This is one of the most popular Red Sox going to the Yankees.
So here's the question...Is Damon's going to NY the same as Jeter coming to Boston?
Let me further explain what I am getting at here...Last night Damon hit a game tying home run and the crowd was going nuts. They are totally embracing someone that they absolutely hated before this year. They'd make fun of his throwing, etc...Now he is a NY fan favorite. The last time I was in NY (only a few weeks ago) I was amazed at the amount of Damon NY Yankee shirts I saw there.
So to tie this all up, and to ask the final question...If Jeter became a free agent, and the Red Sox signed him, would the Boston fans embrace him and forget the years of Jeter sucks stuff? I truly believe that I would have a very difficult time liking Jeter as the Sox SS, or even as a player.
Discuss...
I very much like this question, but I disagree with the choice of Jeter. Yes, Damon become a fan-favorite here in Boston much like Jeter in NY, but he was only here for a handful of years. Where as Jeter has been a Yankee forever (or so it seems). How about alternatives? Now the obvious choice would be A-Rod, because he has been a Yankee for a handful of years. But he needs to be excluded because I am not sure even the Yankee fans like him! So what about the Big Unit? Imagine the Big unit was 5 years younger and was up for free agency this year. I would have no problem cheering for him in a Boston uniform. Or say Melky or Matsui were up for free agency, again no problem cheering for either of them him. Sheffield on the other hand, that would be difficult.
ReplyDeleteI am probably going to be vilified for saying these things, but there you go.
RJ, 5 years ago!! OPEN ARMED love! No doubt. As for AROD, he wanted to be a Red Sox. And Jeter....a true professional. Please don't hate me for my opinions. It's the Yankee uniform, not the person in it. Except for a couple exceptions. (Thurman Munson, until his death, Billy Martin, ditto, but that was his own fault.) Oh, and King Georgie, but he is getting less hate-able as the years go on.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Dino on Jeter being way bigger, but the question is still the same. Aside from the having to watch all those balls get up the middle that Gonzo is eating up, I think Sox fans would warm up to and then embrace Jeter.
ReplyDeleteDamon shows up, plays hurt, plays hard and has done almost exactly the job he was brought in to do (so far but of course the post season has not begun yet). A-Rod is a lot more complex because of the contract and his self serving comments. Hell, if it had been A-Rod that hit the HR last night NY would have been going just as nuts - even if they had booed him earlier (see, A-Rod's walk off about a month back).
As for the "embracing" of Damon, don't underestimate the element in that if "fuck you Boston" - I think a lot of thier fans like Damon, but love the fact that they "stole" him from Boston.
That's a cool question. I agree, Jetes would be welcome eventually - setting aside his overrated defense and the media's fawning over his intangibles, I think most serious baseball people recognize him to be a pretty damn good player. And, like X points out with Damon, there'd be so much glee by having their former hero/captain suddenly facing them.
ReplyDeleteOf course, Jeter on the Mets...now THAT would be awesome.
Imagine Jeter on the Mets in the newly aligned AL Northeast!
ReplyDeleteDouble-sweet