How will Damon be greeted at Fenway?

[VTSoxFan]

Maybe it's a little too soon to pose this question, some nerves a little too raw, but it's a good question. When Damon makes his return to Fenway next spring in the road grays of That Other Team, how will he be greeted when Carl Beane intones his name?

Will the crowd remember how he played for the Sox, drove in 94 runs in '04, the 6 RBI in Game 7, playing hurt, his chatting with the bleacher crowd, his joyfully scruffy appearance, his diving catches, his stolen bases?

Or will they only see the road grays and the spiky intertwined NY on his hat, his corporate haircut and shiny chin, and see horns where they once saw a halo?

What'll it be? Boos? Cheers? Some of each?

[RichardLikeWhoa]

I have mixed feelings...

it would be wrong to boo him cause he did put the final dagger
in the yanks in '04...

i could understand the fans boo'ing him because at one point
last spring Damon's exact words were "If things don't work out in boston
next year with a contract extension, then i'll call it a carreer and retire as a boston red sox. i'd rather retire then be in a yankees uniform".

i think i'd lean more towards the cheering him on side..

[Paulmcall]

People might not recognize him after he gets his beard and hair cut off. I expect he'll get razed plenty.
What'd did you think that he played for the love of the game?

[RottenGazebo]

He will be cheered. The Sox fans will miss a fun player, and they will enjoy seeing him again.

[FlashGordon]

He will be cheered. The Sox fans will miss a fun player, and they will enjoy seeing him again.

If he played for anyone else, I'd agree. If he thinks he's heard boos and nastiness from KC or Oakland, he hasn't heard anything yet. I'm sure he knows he'll get some, but I don't think he knows what he's in for. If the Sox rack up a losing season or don't replace his lead-off bat, it'll be even worse.

[KCGHOST]

He really didn't get booed in KC since he was traded before he could jump ship.

I expect the Red Sox Nation to rag him unmercifully. If they turned on Clemens, a giant of the game, imagine what they will do to Damon.

[Yankeebiscuitfan]

I think they will hug him............................................... .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .........to death.

[king_ghidora]

The reception will not be a warm one. This can't really be compared to any recent deals, with the possible exception of A-Rod. What gets Boston fans more than the leaving the team, or even the leaving the team for the Yankees, is the double-talk. A-Rod had said how excited he was to play for Boston, and then when it didn't go down and he went to the Yankees, he said that never in his "wildest dreams" did he think he'd be playing in pinstripes. Now Johnny is so freely trading in his signature look and personality to be part of the baseball team that looks like a crew of tax attourneys. And this after a whole year of talking about how much he loves Boston and the Red Sox fans and how he'd never want to play for the Yanks.

Pedro Martinez wouldn't be booed because the Sox didn't really make an honest effort, and Pedro felt insulted. D-Lowe wouldn't be booed for the same reason. But Damon has already burned his bridges. Every time A-Rod played in Seattle, either with Texas or New York, the fans would greet him with jeers and fists of Monopoly money thrown into the air like confetti. I expect that when Damon bats against Boston as well.

[FlashGordon]

Pedro Martinez wouldn't be booed because the Sox didn't really make an honest effort, and Pedro felt insulted. D-Lowe wouldn't be booed for the same reason.

I agree D-Lowe wouldn't get booed. He was all but shoved out the door. Pedro, however, essentially taunted the Red Sox as a way to drive up his asking price. Had he taken Boston's last best offer, he would have been handsomely rewarded. For a bit of pocket change, however, he stuck with the Mets. But I know I wouldn't boo Pedro. He gave us way too much in his time in Boston to deserve that.

Now Red Sox ownership...I might boo them, but only if they create a complete fiasco next season. Here's hoping that the team can gel .

[Omahasoxfan]

If the fans had an ounce of class in them they would clap for him...

In his first appearance showing respect to a KEY player in the changing of most of our lives for the better.

Cheer for him when he runs out there for the first time, clap and show him that you don't hate him, you just hate his team now.


What will really happen?
He will get booed and harassed the whole day by drunken beer swilling hooligans.

[pesky6]

If the fans had an ounce of class in them they would clap for him...

In his first appearance showing respect to a KEY player in the changing of most of our lives for the better.

Cheer for him when he runs out there for the first time, clap and show him that you don't hate him, you just hate his team now.


What will really happen?
He will get booed and harassed the whole day by drunken beer swilling hooligans.

I don't think it has anything to do with class. Is Damon any better for signing on with the team he said he wouldn't play for than us booing him?

A bit of irony. . . a friend of mine was cleaning out his collection of Entertainment Weekly magazines when he came across the one where Damon was on the cover with Jimmy Fallon and Drew Berrymore. He sent it to me and it arrived on Tuesday. Not sure if I'm going to list it on ebay or simply burn it.

[VTSoxFan]

I don't think it has anything to do with class. Is Damon any better for signing on with the team he said he wouldn't play for than us booing him?

A bit of irony. . . a friend of mine was cleaning out his collection of Entertainment Weekly magazines when he came across the one where Damon was on the cover with Jimmy Fallon and Drew Berrymore. He sent it to me and it arrived on Tuesday. Not sure if I'm going to list it on ebay or simply burn it.

In the spirit of honoring what is apparently closest to Johnny's heart, sell it and make a few bucks off from it.

[pesky6]

I have mixed feelings...

it would be wrong to boo him cause he did put the final dagger
in the yanks in '04...

i could understand the fans boo'ing him because at one point
last spring Damon's exact words were "If things don't work out in boston
next year with a contract extension, then i'll call it a carreer and retire as a boston red sox. i'd rather retire then be in a yankees uniform".

i think i'd lean more towards the cheering him on side..

Richard, where did you find that quote? I'd love to know where you got it.

[Boston Boxer]

boo his butt endlessly. He turned his back on us after he said he never would...and signed with the enemy to boot.

[porchygirl]

I do not think Damon will be greeted with cheers.............had things been different, had he signed with another team based on the Red Sox dismantling of the team,maybe cheers. But considering the comment he made in May about never playing in NY..........and the sellout he is. NEVER will the fans cheer him. They will Boo him, as he has asked for it, but they should moon him to show him that he is an "well you know "