Stitzer's Take: The Damon Signing

The following is the take on the Yankees signing of Johnny Damon by old Stitzer:

As a Yankee fan, my first reaction, as it should have been was "what the $&*&(^%$^? - I HATE Damon!!!" The post-1980 sports fan needs to deal with the fact that players you despise may very well end up on your team. Yet another reason Free Agency sucks, but that is a discussion for another day.

So much for Bubba Crosby, he had a shorter stint as the starting center fielder for than Yankees than Bud Fox did as the President of Blue Star Airlines. Damon's arm is arguably weaker than Bernie Williams, but he does cover more ground. From a defensive standpoint, there is a slight upgrade - which is not saying much as DiMaggio & Mantle must have turned over in their graves at the way CF was patrolled (or not patrolled) in 2005. Offensively, this was a great move. Despite the fact that Jeter has been a more than adequate lead-off hitter, Damon's move to the top of the order is a huge upgrade - for the #2 spot. Jeter's bat control and willingness to punch the ball to right field makes him ideally suited to bat 2nd. It also moves everyone else down a spot in the order, and gets rid of the constant juggling of Cano, Bernie, A-Rod, and Matsui out of the 2-hole spot. The 2006 lineup projects as this
Damon CF
Jeter SS
A-Rod 3B
Giambi DH
Sheff RF
Matsui LF
Jorge C
Cano 2B
Insert name of veteran guy to play solid D @ 1B
This lineup has chance to score well over 1,000 runs

Another reason why I like the move is that it hurts Boston - as a matter of fact, it should kill them according to the biased leader of their fan base: Bill Simmons. Lets see if biased Bill is writing columns in August 2006 that are plugging Damon for MVP. Cannot wait to see his column later today when he justifies that this is a GREAT move for Boston and TERRIBLE move for the Yankees.

The final reason, and arguably the most important reason, why I like the move is that it got a roaring seal of approval from the most knowledgeable Yankee fan on the planet, Paul Stitzer - my Dad. We are talking about a man who saw Gherig play once, DiMaggio dozens of times, and was sitting next to a 9-year old kid in the upper deck in 1976 when Chris Chambliss went deep off of Mark Littell. His definition of "great" is slightly different than Mike Patrick's, who happens to say "what a great great play after every 4 yard run." I asked my Dad the following question "if this team stays healthy, does it have a shot to make run at the 114-win 1998 team?" "Absolutely" was his answer.

October 2006 - look for the World Championship trophy to be back where it belongs: THE BRONX