No Applause From Me

by user Xinoph

Well, it begins again today, what many consider baseball's greatest rivalry: Red Sox-Yankees in Fenway Park. And I'll be there. There's special meaning to the rivalry this year. The return of Johnny Damon to Fenway, who I fully intend to boo each time he gets to the plate. Yes, that's right. Some have said that Boston fans should applaud him, recognize the contributions he made to Red Sox Nation over the years. And you know what I say to that? Give me a freakin' break. I applauded him when he was playing for us, even though I never liked him. (Totally true, ask anyone). I applauded him in Games One and Two of the World Series, which I attended in Fenway two years ago. I applauded him when he came back off that terrible collision three years ago. I whooped and yelled at home when he got the home run at the first at-bat of Game Four in St. Louis. In short, I've done more than enough applauding for Johnny Damon, and there's no way I'm going to applaud him when - unlike, say, Jason Varitek - he bolted Boston for its archrival's offer of "big piles of cash and a haircut." There's no way I'll applaud him when he's coming in here trying to take the division lead away from us. Be generous? Give me a break. He wasn't generous when he was negotiating with the team for a new contract. Why should I be generous for him? He doesn't deserve it. Those of you who liked Johnny Damon - actually liked him, which I find difficult to comprehend - can applaud him tonight, if you want. But I make it a policy of only applauding Yankees players when they screw up. Which is not to say there aren't any Yankees players I like. Mariano RIvera, Derek Jeter, Hideki Matsui, and Jorge Poseda all spring to mind. Now that J.D. is in New York and David Wells is on the DL, we're pretty much rid of the jerks on the Red Sox roster for now, and I like it that way, thank you very much. Applaud a player I don't like on my team for his performance? You bet. Applaud a player I dislike on the other team just for showing up? Yeah, right.

Date
Mon 05/01/06, 4:48 am EST