July 8, 2005

Is the Shilling/Damon beef all about neck scarves? : "The Inside Track today speculates as to where the turmoil between Schilling and Damon might stem from: a fight over scarves between Michelle Damon and Shonda Schilling last October. " (scroll down)

read story | posted by Marla Singer to Baseball at 12:30 PM CDT (31 comments total)

We've been talking about this at work and the conclusion is, "You can take the girl out of the strip club . . . " I think the first person with a correct question wins Jeopardy! around the Damon household. Regardless of how great he's been the last two years, I won't miss him when he's gone. Unless he goes to NYC. But even then, they'll be overpaying for him by 2008.

Comment icon posted by yerfatma at 1:33 PM CDT on July 8

Why is Damon catching flak for not wanting Schilling to close? He raised some valid points.

Comment icon posted by dusted at 1:36 PM CDT on July 8

Pleez pleez pleez don't send him to New York. Don't send any of them to New York. Yankees got enough drama as it is.

Comment icon posted by lil_brown_bat at 1:48 PM CDT on July 8

Interesting. There is always something going on with the Red Sox. Sure Damon made some valid points, but you dont spout them to the media. You either keep them to yourself or talk to your manager about them.

Comment icon posted by daddisamm at 1:53 PM CDT on July 8

Why is Damon catching flak for not wanting Schilling to close? He raised some valid points.

Because he's not a columnist, nor a talk show flack. He's on a team where they're all suppose to, or at least appear to, be rowing the oars in the same direction.

Michelle Damon I will not miss. At all.

Comment icon posted by jerseygirl at 1:58 PM CDT on July 8

Michelle Damon I will not miss. At all.

No doubt boo. I first caught sight of her at a Bruins playoff game. Good game, close series. A number of Sox (including the hockey-mad Keith Foulke) were in a luxury box. They showed the box maybe a thousand times during the game. Her mouth was never fucking closed. I kept waiting for them to show her with a black eye and Foulke and Damon wrestling on the ground.

lbb, would you seriously not take Damon as a solution to the graveyard in Yankee Stadium's centerfield? Assuming you were guaranteed the offensive performance he's put up the last two years?

Comment icon posted by yerfatma at 3:04 PM CDT on July 8

earlier in the season i remember schilling saying the chemistry is not there anymore with the sox, and i believe it.

Comment icon posted by gregy606 at 3:24 PM CDT on July 8

performance-wise i would take him, but it would depend on how many years he wants.

but, i don't know if damon would be able to part with his locks and beard to play in ny. or if he would be able to keep his opinions in the clubhouse instead of the back page.

i'm hoping this melky thing works out and we don't have to worry about center for a while.

Comment icon posted by goddam at 3:27 PM CDT on July 8

Yeah, he wants 5 years at $12 million (4 years if it's with the Sox). Too much, too old as The Specials did not sing.

Comment icon posted by yerfatma at 3:41 PM CDT on July 8

Damon wants a $60M contract? youch. He's good, even very good, but... youch.

Comment icon posted by tieguy at 3:59 PM CDT on July 8

Damon has no right to diss Curt Schilling and tell Theo Epstein what to do. Especially when Theo Epstein can fire Damon himself. I say get rid of Damon and go for a guy like Preston Wilson or Bernie Williams.

Comment icon posted by The_Intern at 3:59 PM CDT on July 8

You either keep them to yourself or talk to your manager about them.

No doubt boo mang.

Comment icon posted by dusted at 4:01 PM CDT on July 8

I say get rid of Damon and go for a guy like Preston Wilson or Bernie Williams.

Why not someone who's actually dead? If you're going to give up the second-best leadoff man in the AL (and a damned find defensive CF even with a weak arm), for almost nothing, why not go for nothing? Theo addressed some team topics today.

No doubt boo mang.

I should probably qualify this as being a reference to a Fox Sports Net Celtics commercial (the commercials are fairly universal, it just happened to be Celtics branded) from years back where two incredibly white guys discuss how they should be playing for the team. It's used as short-hand at work a lot.

Comment icon posted by yerfatma at 4:04 PM CDT on July 8

I say get rid of Damon and go for a guy like Preston Wilson or Bernie Williams.

Ugh, god. Uh... Um.

There are options for CF if we don't re-sign Damon, included solving the issue within the organization by transitioning Hanley Ramirez to an outfielder.

Comment icon posted by jerseygirl at 4:25 PM CDT on July 8

All i know is bernie williams is not the answer intern....but i wish it was i'd love to see those sox start sinking.

Comment icon posted by gregy606 at 4:35 PM CDT on July 8

TE's answers in that BSM link are interesting- very non-stat-y :)

Comment icon posted by tieguy at 4:55 PM CDT on July 8

solving the issue within the organization by transitioning Hanley Ramirez to an outfielder.

Weirdly, this year Edgar Renteria offered to move to CF to make room for Hanley. Guess he may actually be the real deal.

Comment icon posted by yerfatma at 5:22 PM CDT on July 8

lbb, would you seriously not take Damon as a solution to the graveyard in Yankee Stadium's centerfield? Assuming you were guaranteed the offensive performance he's put up the last two years?

Under that assumption, I would take Damon...and I'd also buy lottery tickets if I had a guaranteed win every time ;-) But I don't see any guarantees of continued performance where any baseball player is concerned. I think the Yankees do way too much buying and not enough building, and I don't think acquiring Damon would help that situation any.

BTW, there was a column by Eric Wilbur in today's Boston Globe, bemoaning the drama in the Red Sox and claiming that "the Red Sox have gone 2001 on us". Has Wilbur got the right of it, or is this another case of the Globe's sharper-than-the-serpent's-tooth Sox coverage?

Comment icon posted by lil_brown_bat at 5:51 PM CDT on July 8

Damon rom Red Sox pregame -

(Commenting on meeting w/Francona re: comments)
"He basically called me a dumbass and told me to keep my mouth shut"

I'll hop on the other side of the arguement and say that not only does Damon have a point (that Schilling should be focused on getting back to the Ace of the staff...not becoming a closer), but the Red Sox should and will resign him. He's been extremely consistent and has shown marked improvement over the last two years. If they essentially chose Renteria over Damon, contract-wise, this last year that's a mistake in imo.

btw Intern, I say get rid of Damon and go for a guy like Preston Wilson or Bernie Williams
Punch yourself for that one. You can choose up high or down low. Bernie Williams isn't playing for any major league team...except the Yankees, they're stuck with him.

Comment icon posted by YukonGold at 6:22 PM CDT on July 8

I heard that about Rent too, yerfatma, a couple weeks ago I think. It's good to know he's cool with doing that, if it came to that.

lbb, far be it for me to help the Yankees ;) but I'm not convinced Damon's nagging shoulder problem isn't something more. He is in a contract year, he's having a fantastic year despite the shoulder, and Boras is his agent. All I am saying is it wouldn't surprise me if it developed into something more... after he signed a new contract (be it with Boston, NY, Detroit, whomever). Purely speculatory, but just my feeling on it. And yes, he'd loose all the perceived "rock star" status if he had to go to NY and shave the beard and lose the hair. Although, that didn't stop Mondesi or Giambi.

And about the Wilbur link, he's basically correct. They're bitching. A lot. I don't think it's impeding their on the field work, but regardless its a distraction. Now what Wilbur didn't write, and maybe it wasn't known last night, is that the other real "fight" was Jay Payton flipping out in the dugout Thursday night and yelling at Francona and Brad Mills. He didn't like his playing time, and apparently didn't care for the double switch move either. (To be fair, Payton didn't sign with the Red Sox, he came over in the Dave Roberts trade with SD, and apparently, Payton didn't want to come to Boston, knowing he'd have a backup role.) After the game, Payton went to Francona to talk, and Francona wanted none of it. He told Payton to get his bags off the bus because he wasn't going on the plane with the team. Payton, on his way out, told Don Orsillo that he was being traded and he'd know where in 3 days. Orsillo, on WEEI this afternoon, categorized Payton as a clubhouse "cancer" and he had been complaining the entire season about his playing time. Like it was said, the guy didn't want to be a backup OF to begin with, so you can't fault him for being dissatisfied.

Then Francona called Epstein and told him he sent Payton packing and to get the trade going. The next morning, Payton was DFAd. Apparently, they have a trade in place for Payton already, but this forced the matter moreso. Epstein this morning on WEEI was pretty blunt that they weren't going to have any of that kind of attitude from a player and the organization's motto is team before the player, and everyone playing on the Sox should have that same view. Personally, I like that Theo and Francona aren't cowtowing to the players.

Yeah, the drama sucks and people are talking who shouldn't be talking. (Damon apparently got yelled at yesterday for it.) This is a lot like last year with the Nomar drama. I am hoping the team rallies together now and Payton's departure is an addition by subtraction, like Nomar's seemed to be.

Francona's hands were tied with the ASG selection. It wasn't like past years where Torre loaded up on Yankees, etc. Rules changed. And Schilling can't give you a full 6-7-8 innings yet, so what's the best move? Keep him in Pawtucket for another month until he can, or see if he can fill the glaring bullpen void for a closer? I'm irritated with Damon for talking out of line. Timlin and Arroyo, while both could be great closers, are now doing very well in their respective roles. Keep them there. Why screw up the rotation to have Arroyo close? Why mess with a good thing already, and put Timlin in a different role?

Comment icon posted by jerseygirl at 6:23 PM CDT on July 8

on the Schilling bullpen issue by itself...I don't buy that he's gonna be a closer. That would just be silly. Say he found a groove doing it how could you move him back where he belongs. The media both in and out of Boston has built this one up with all the Eck and Smoltz comparisons...it's just silly.

Comment icon posted by YukonGold at 6:24 PM CDT on July 8

I agree the media built it up to be the second coming of Christ, but for now, I feel like it could be an okay alternative. Temporarily.

Comment icon posted by jerseygirl at 6:25 PM CDT on July 8

two things:

1) why is it "neck" scarves? are there scarves for so many other body parts now we have to specify "neck"?

2) I have thought long and hard about what Johnny Damon resembles, and come to this conclusion:

Johnny Damon resembles a 19th century fur trader just back from the Louisiana territory.

Comment icon posted by drjimmy11 at 6:39 PM CDT on July 8

If we seriously got Chad Bradford for Jay Payton (or 1/2 of the Dave Roberts deal), that's ridiculous (in a good way). I don't understand Payton's ass-aching, as he's always been a AAAA player to me. Maybe trading another unhappy Georgia Tech alum will make the difference this year.

Yukon, I stand by what I said in our email chain this week: Damon will not be worth what it will take to sign him by 2007/8. The "shown marked improvement over the last two years" should be the give-away: what are the odds he continues an upward trend as he hits 32, 33, 34?

Johnny Damon resembles a 19th century fur trader just back from the Louisiana territory.

Let's say 17th century French-Canadian; I don't get to say "Coeur De Bois" often enough.

Comment icon posted by yerfatma at 6:49 PM CDT on July 8

I know about the age thing, Bernie is a prime example. But with all signs pointing at the Sox getting younger and cheaper at 3/4 of the infield is it worth the potential risk? I'm not sure. Obviously that's putting Hanley in that equation as an IF, not a CF.

Comment icon posted by YukonGold at 7:31 PM CDT on July 8

Renteria just made a serious play. Earning his keep.

Comment icon posted by YukonGold at 7:36 PM CDT on July 8

1) why is it "neck" scarves? are there scarves for so many other body parts now we have to specify "neck"?

Probably for the same reason that you Americans say 'necktie'. I leave any innuendo to someone else's fevered imagination.

Comment icon posted by owlhouse at 7:51 PM CDT on July 8

yerfatma reminded me of something and that's damon's weak arm. even though he'd be able to get to balls that bernie can't anymore, i'd prefer see someone out there with a respectable arm.

Comment icon posted by goddam at 11:29 PM CDT on July 8

a fight over scarves between Michelle Damon and Shonda Schilling last October.

I think the subtext is that rich housewives need something to worry about.

Comment icon posted by Mayor Curley at 10:50 AM CDT on July 9

Like it was said, (Payton) didn't want to be a backup OF to begin with, so you can't fault him for being dissatisfied.

I can. Obviously, Payton wasn't all that valuable to the Padres if they gave him up for Dave Roberts, and outside from his one stellar year in homer-happy Coors Field, he's been a mediocre player that's never fulfilled the hype. Now he's playing for the defending world champs and he's bitching because his .313 OBP isn't in the line-up every day? I have a wonderful place for him -- it's called Pawtucket.

Comment icon posted by wfrazerjr at 11:31 AM CDT on July 9

i'd prefer see someone out there with a respectable arm

Honestly, it looks like hell when he throws a ball into the grass 15' in front of 2nd base, but that's an aesthetic thing for the most part: he gets to so many balls he can loft the toss back in because no one's on base.

Comment icon posted by yerfatma at 12:30 PM CDT on July 9

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