• Featured |
  • Burton DeWitt
  • Vin Diec
  • Trevor Freeman
  • Diane M. Grassi
  • Gabe Kahn
  • Ryan McGowan
  • Kris Pollina
  • Matt Waters
  • Ray Yocke
  • -----------
  • Write for SC
  • Get Featured
  • Nominate
• blog |
• Journals

• NFL
• NBA
• MLB
• NHL
• College
• Other

• forums + |
  • Chat Room
  • Message Boards
  • Philly Message Boards
  • Photo Pool
• Submit |
• Help

Welcome Home!!!!......Now Get Out!

By YanksWS96, Section MLB
Posted on Thu May 04 2006 at 2:00 AM EST
More on: (all tags)

by Matt Wells

With the days of free agency and money-chasing upon us, we expect players in all four of the major sports to eventually depart to different clubs.  It seems inevitable nowadays.

However, don't you think fans of the players' former teams should forgive and forget if a player ends up going to a different team?  Don't you think the players should be forgiven for leaving if they were successful for their previous teams?

Well, tell that to baseball fans.

Put simply, the fans did not forgive and forget.  Both players were booed loudly and often each time they came up to the plate.  Damon was booed every time he touched the ball in center field.  Why the hostility, folks?

Let's start with Jim Thome.  Yes, Thome chased money and headed to Philadelphia following the 2002 season.  But, how can you boo Jim Thome in his return to Cleveland?  Jim Thome was the Cleveland Indians in the late-1990's and in the early years of this decade.

Thome blasted 334 homers in 12 seasons in Cleveland - an average of nearly 28 homers per season.  Without Thome, the Indians would have never made it to the World Series in 1995 or 1998, nor would they have enjoyed as many postseason appearances.

Jim Thome was a fixture in Cleveland, and the Indians fans should have stood up and applauded their former hero.  Even if he was booed for most of the game, the fans should have shown him their gratitude when he stepped up for his first at-bat.  A nice round of applause, even if they were for just one minute, would have been nice to see.

So, what does 12 years with one team get you?  Boos.  That's it.  Thome was treated like an enemy after being treated like a saint for 12 years.  Even White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen called the treatment "brutal."  One Indians fan held up a sign that read "Et Tu, Thome?", referring to Thome's "betrayal."

Yes, Thome left for more money.  But should Indian fans just turn their backs on Jim Thome.  I think not.  That behavior was "outrageous, egregious, preposterous."

Now, let's turn to Johnny Damon.  Damon was the golden child of the World Champion Red Sox in 2004.  Every Sox fan seemed to worship the ground that Damon walked on.  Some referred to him as "Jesus," due to his Jesus-like beard.  Now, the Sox fans have turned him into Judas.

Damon spent 4 years in Boston and he was the center of those self-proclaimed "Idiots" of 2004.  Johnny was the catalyst for large parts of the Red Sox success in his 4 years in Boston.  His 2 home runs in Game 7 of the 2004 ALCS will always be in the minds of Red Sox fans....and Yankee fans have done their best to forget that.

Damon's return to Fenway Park was much anticipated.  Red Sox fans knew what they were going to do in Damon's return - boo.  This had been planned since the day he signed with the hated Yankees.  Damon got a few cheers, just like Jim Thome did in Cleveland.  However, Damon also got boos.  Lots of boos.  Damon did know this was coming, but the Red Sox fans were pretty harsh.

"It was kind of sad," Boston's Kevin Youkilis said of the reaction to Damon. "He acknowledged the crowd (with his helmet) and they didn't want any part of it."  Like Thome, Damon was booed every time he stepped up to the plate.

Now, part of me doesn't blame the Red Sox fans for booing Johnny Damon.  After all, he signed with the Evil Empire in the Bronx.  If Damon had come back as, say, a Baltimore Oriole, the number of cheers probably would have outnumbered the boos.  In fact, Damon coming back in any of the other 28 uniforms would not have generated the amount of boos he received Monday night.  Who knows?...he may have received no boos coming back in a non-Yankee uniform.

Damon's quote from May 1, 2005 (one year before his Yankee appearance in Boston) read as such: "There's no way I can go play for the Yankees, but I know they are 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."  Who can blame Sox fans for "hating" Johnny Damon?  Damon chased the money.

But, just like the Indians fans with Jim Thome, the Sox fans should have acknowledged, even briefly, the accomplishments of Johnny Damon in a Red Sox uniform.  Once again, Damon was the face of the Boston Red Sox in 2004.  Sure, Manny Ramirez, David Ortiz, and Curt Schilling were among those who helped carry the team.  However, ask a Sox fan (prior to this year) who the face of the World Champion Red Sox was in 2004, and those fans would have told you that it was Johnny Damon.

The fans' actions regarding Jim Thome and Johnny Damon were deplorable.  The two players spent a combined 16 years in organizations that they helped put on the baseball map.  They carried their teams on their backs through the tough times; in return, they were put on their teammates' shoulders when success was achieved.

Yes, Jim Thome and Johnny Damon followed the money trail out of their respective cities.  But, the fans should give a brief round of applause for both players and their respective accomplishments.  Excessive booing is no way to show one's appreciation of another's success.  Can't we all just get along for a little while?

Jim Thome and Johnny Damon, welcome home.  NOW GET OUT!!!