speech impediment or is he just retarded?

[crabjuice23]

Personally I think Johnny Damon is completely retarded but I was just wondering if someone out there knew something I didnt. The reason I bring this up is today I was trying to watch to Johhny's press conference and after 45 seconds of listening to him sputter out sentence fragments and seeing him struggle desperately to find the correct words to answer the reporters questions I had to turn off the tv. The faces I was making while trying to listen to him could only be comparable to the face a person would make if someone jammed a rusty salad fork into their ribs. So again I ask does anyone know if he stutters and oh's and umm's as often as he does because he has some condition or is it a more simple explanation which is that he is just a bonafide dingbat? Thanks for your time.

[Beckett95]

Personally I think Johnny Damon is completely retarded but I was just wondering if someone out there knew something I didnt. The reason I bring this up is today I was trying to watch to Johhny's press conference and after 45 seconds of listening to him sputter out sentence fragments and seeing him struggle desperately to find the correct words to answer the reporters questions I had to turn off the tv. The faces I was making while trying to listen to him could only be comparable to the face a person would make if someone jammed a rusty salad fork into their ribs. So again I ask does anyone know if he stutters and oh's and umm's as often as he does because he has some condition or is it a more simple explanation which is that he is just a bonafide dingbat? Thanks for your time.

 

completely agree

[MANNYHOF24]

yes Damon is a complete Dumbass, which was only tollorable when he was a sox

[See Red]

yes Damon is a complete Dumbass, which was only tollorable when he was a sox

 

Not even then. Sometimes I thanked god that I didn't live in Boston so I didn't have to listen to him speak.

[schillingouttheks]

I took batting practice with him once (which obviously now, I regret, but nonetheless it was still cool). Listening to him giving tips for batting was the most excruciatingly painful thing I've tried to listen to. Ever.

[yankeessuck013]

He used to stutter really bad. Maybe speaking slowly is how he controls it. But yeah, he comes across as a "dingbat."

 

I think the Sox lost the only player they had that made Manny look smart.

[26 to 6]

haha I just made a post regarding this in the Yankees Offseason thread lol...didnt realize this thread existed

 

Yea, he's definately not too bright lol

 

Whatever though, im not going to make fun of him, maybe its a condition he has or something

lol

[a700hitter]

He used to stutter really bad. Maybe speaking slowly is how he controls it. But yeah, he comes across as a "dingbat."

 

I think the Sox lost the only player they had that made Manny look smart.

He's not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but most players are idiots. I don't think he should be ridiculed for the way he speaks, especially if he has had to overcome a stuttering problem. I'll be the first one to tear apart the substance of his remarks, but to criticize an obvious speech impediment is just cruel.

[jsinger121]

what do u expect from a guy who didnt go to college. he probably barely passed high school

[ARod2212]

Oh crap, I was just talking about this. I read he was really shy as a kid, and now he won't shut up, but still has a stutter. Rick Reilly did an article on him over the summer which I read about 9 times when I was in Ireland.

[Soxfan1]

http://sports.espn.go.com/broadband/motion/echo/index?id=%26category=Motion%20on%20Demand%26subcategory=MLB

[BariNoVa]

You know, I can see ragging on him for his defection from the Sox, but for his stutter? Maybe he should sing his answers to the press.... supposedly singing cures stuttering when the person is singing....

[yankeessuck013]

It's s-s-so mean to make f-f-fun of J-J-Johnny's s-s-stutter-r-r

 

Johnny Damon, may you ride off into the sunset on the horse with Wade Boggs, and may you miss the cutoff man over and over and over and over....

[Optimist]

What he sounds like is about as important as what size pinstriped jersey he's going to wear...

 

Oh well... whatever helps you guys...:dunno:

[ARod2212]

It's s-s-so mean to make f-f-fun of J-J-Johnny's s-s-stutter-r-r

 

Johnny Damon, may you ride off into the sunset on the horse with Wade Boggs, and may you miss the cutoff man over and over and over and over....

He can't miss the cutoff man if he can't overthrow the cutoff man, come on now.

[a700hitter]

He can't miss the cutoff man if he can't overthrow the cutoff man, come on now.

You are right. He can't miss the cutoff man, but he will regularly two-hop it to the cutoff man.

[SCM33]

Damon has had a speech problem since he was a child. Real classy to make fun of the guy. I am sure you like to kick three legged dogs and scream in the deafs ears as well?

 

Say what you want about the guy, NOBODY would turn down 12 million dollars, to make it more realistic and put it on our level, would you turn down 12,000 dollars from a rival company? If you answered no you are lying to yourself.

 

How petty of us sox fans to make fun of a problem the man suffers because he took more money from a team who clearly showed more interest while the Sox were jerking his chain with offers comparable to frigin Rafael Furcals. The market was set with Furcal, the Yanks saddled up, the Sox didnt, Good Luck Johnny, No hard feelings from me. If anything, you showed how smart you truly were taking the money, the better contract, and joining a better team which is much more prepared for next year than your old team.

[26 Reasons to Hate Us]

Damon has had a speech problem since he was a child. Real classy to make fun of the guy. I am sure you like to kick three legged dogs and scream in the deafs ears as well?

 

Say what you want about the guy, NOBODY would turn down 12 million dollars, to make it more realistic and put it on our level, would you turn down 12,000 dollars from a rival company? If you answered no you are lying to yourself.

 

How petty of us sox fans to make fun of a problem the man suffers because he took more money from a team who clearly showed more interest while the Sox were jerking his chain with offers comparable to frigin Rafael Furcals. The market was set with Furcal, the Yanks saddled up, the Sox didnt, Good Luck Johnny, No hard feelings from me. If anything, you showed how smart you truly were taking the money, the better contract, and joining a better team which is much more prepared for next year than your old team.

 

Finally, a sox fan who gets it.

[26 to 6]

Damon has had a speech problem since he was a child. Real classy to make fun of the guy. I am sure you like to kick three legged dogs and scream in the deafs ears as well?

 

Say what you want about the guy, NOBODY would turn down 12 million dollars, to make it more realistic and put it on our level, would you turn down 12,000 dollars from a rival company? If you answered no you are lying to yourself.

 

How petty of us sox fans to make fun of a problem the man suffers because he took more money from a team who clearly showed more interest while the Sox were jerking his chain with offers comparable to frigin Rafael Furcals. The market was set with Furcal, the Yanks saddled up, the Sox didnt, Good Luck Johnny, No hard feelings from me. If anything, you showed how smart you truly were taking the money, the better contract, and joining a better team which is much more prepared for next year than your old team.

Preach on Brother!!

[SCM33]

Dont get me wrong here, I was never really a big Damon fan, but they guy could play the game. I think its smug of Sox fans who literally called him "The Jesus of the RedSox" to take their shots at the guy because he can't speak articulately to the media and decided he was done screwing around with the incourageable RedSox front office who decided to play games with the guy. The thing is about Johnny, he tells it like it is, which is respectable, however he gets the point across is irrevelant, he tells you what he thinks and was always available for a sound byte. Typical Sox fans to blame the guy for making a move in the best interest of himself. Dont confuse this either, it wasnt about the money, he turned down 65 million from a mystery team (most likely Detroit or Baltimore) to play with a WINNER. THat left his option to Boston and New York, and reports claim that Damon called Tito that morning, and tried contacting the Sox all day, and they made NO attempt to get in tough with him. Damon had 24 hours to accept that deal, or walk away from it. Time was running out, and so was the Sox opportunity. Hopefully they learn that you dont run a baseball team like a Big Business. The Sox bit the big one here.

[schillingouttheks]

It was about the money. The "mystery team" doesn't exist. It's a tool Boras uses to manipulate his clients and make teams move quicker and up their offers.

[ORS]

Here's what I find amusing. So many of Sox fans were applauding the FO for the Beckett, Marte, and Loretta trade, but all of a sudden, when Johnny Damon signs for more money elsewhere, they are bungling idiots that can hardly keep from tripping over themselves. Letting Damon walk at that price was a calculated move IMO. And if you are buying the bigger offer from an "annonymous team" according to Boras, then I've got some real estate to sell you down here in Florida.

 

Letting Damon go will hurt in 2006. But his replacement, whoever it ends up being, will likely be better in 2008/2009, which is the whole reason for letting him go.

[a700hitter]

Letting Damon walk at that price was a calculated move IMO.

Let's hope it wasn't a miscalculation, that costs us a chance at making the Post-Season, and worse yet that pushes the Yankees to the top of the mountain again.

[ORS]

Let's hope it wasn't a miscalculation, that costs us a chance at making the Post-Season, and worse yet that pushes the Yankees to the top of the mountain again.

There are no guarantees in the prediction business, and the move will make an October run in 2006 unlikely. However, if that sacrafice does payoff in the form of a very strong, young team that can go on a 5-8 year run, then it's worth having tee-times in October of 2006.

[SCM33]

Letting Damon go will hurt in 2006. But his replacement, whoever it ends up being, will likely be better in 2008/2009, which is the whole reason for letting him go.

 

 

 

Says who? Whos to say a prospect it better than the best leadoff hitter in baseball? Give me a break. You can't compare Reed, or Crisp or whoever. Unless they bring in Andruw Jones, there is no better CF in baseball, and its already proven there isnt a better leadoff hitter because we just let him walk over to NY. This will HURT the Sox in ANY way you look at it. Now they are focred to deal prospects, and since other teams know we are desperate, they now have the bargaining advantage. If we upgrade other positions it may not hurt as much, but that isnt happening.

 

Also, whos to say that the market wont go up in a few years, collective bargaining did nothing to deter teams from overspending this offseason or last (See Blue Jays, Orioles, Yankees, Mets). We might be spending that same money in a few years for some jobber. Either way we lost the best leadoff hitter in baseball, and now we are forced to either sign a marginally mediocre CF, trade our young guns and top prospects for a young unproven CF, or overspend ourselves in a few years for some CF who STILL wont put up the numbers that Damon did. We lose any way you look at it.

 

Save yourself the time and dont argue that we will trade Clement for some prospect CF. Everyone in MLB saw the same Matt Clement we did last year, one who is not worthy of a top prospect. So in the end it may cost us Arroyo and a top prospect since other teams are dealing from a more powerful and demanding position knowing that we are desperate for help. This even further weakens the team because now we have to look for a capable swingman/5th starter.

 

Instead of signing Damon, keeping a valuable Arroyo, and holding on to talent we are essentially losing the best leadoff hitter in the game, Arroyo, and top talent just because we couldnt shovel out an extra 12 million. For what? For a prospect CF, or a mediocre Cf....or some free agent we will overspend on anyway in a few years. Not very logical.

 

Also, you seem to think his replacement will be better than Johhny Damon yet you name nobody.

 

Oneredseat...this isnt bashing you in any way either. But I truly believe that in the end that 12 million would have been worth resigning Johhny Damon. I think choosing to not resign him will lead to a domino effect of moves that were not necessary if they would have shoveled out the money in the first place.

[a700hitter]

There are no guarantees in the prediction business, and the move will make an October run in 2006 unlikely. However, if that sacrafice does payoff in the form of a very strong, young team that can go on a 5-8 year run, then it's worth having tee-times in October of 2006.

If the move results in an October where the players are watching the post-season from their couches, then the move would have been a miserable miscalculation. After the Beckett/Mota deal, this team only needed to re-sign Damon and a few minor tweaks to get to the top of the mountain. You don't build a team with a $120+ million payroll to play for the future. In a couple of years Manny and Ortiz will be gone as well a Schilling and Lowell and maybe Nixon. That's a lot to replace and be able to forecast a good 5 to 8 year run. What could you be basing that on? This team was built to win now. If ownership sacrificed that for 2 extra draft choices that may never reach the ML level, then I would say they miscalculated and someone in the FO needs to be held accountable. They need this team to make an October push. Anything less will be viewed as a major failure by the FO.

[26 to 6]

Let's hope it wasn't a miscalculation, that costs us a chance at making the Post-Season, and worse yet that pushes the Yankees to the top of the mountain again.

HOw come it would be worse for the Yankees to "reach the top of the mountain" than the Sox not making the playoffs?

 

..that is definately something I noticed about the Sox and their fans. They are more concerned about the Yankees then themselves. After the series was won the big thing was the fact that you guys beat the Yankees, trust me, when we win a World Series, we're happy because we won, not because you didnt. The media, fans, and organization have taken that mindset up there where everything that takes place has something to do with the Yankees. To the Red Sox 28 teams are non-existant, the only two teams that exist to a lot of RSN (note, I said A LOT, not all of RSN) are the Yankees and Red Sox.

 

I dont get it.

 

 

Anyways...didnt mean to start controversy with my statement, but I know thats what is going to be the end result...sorry

[ORS]

Says who? Whos to say a prospect it better than the best leadoff hitter in baseball? Give me a break. You can't compare Reed, or Crisp or whoever. Unless they bring in Andruw Jones, there is no better CF in baseball, and its already proven there isnt a better leadoff hitter because we just let him walk over to NY. This will HURT the Sox in ANY way you look at it. Now they are focred to deal prospects, and since other teams know we are desperate, they now have the bargaining advantage. If we upgrade other positions it may not hurt as much, but that isnt happening.

 

Also, whos to say that the market wont go up in a few years, collective bargaining did nothing to deter teams from overspending this offseason or last (See Blue Jays, Orioles, Yankees, Mets). We might be spending that same money in a few years for some jobber. Either way we lost the best leadoff hitter in baseball, and now we are forced to either sign a marginally mediocre CF, trade our young guns and top prospects for a young unproven CF, or overspend ourselves in a few years for some CF who STILL wont put up the numbers that Damon did. We lose any way you look at it.

 

Save yourself the time and dont argue that we will trade Clement for some prospect CF. Everyone in MLB saw the same Matt Clement we did last year, one who is not worthy of a top prospect. So in the end it may cost us Arroyo and a top prospect since other teams are dealing from a more powerful and demanding position knowing that we are desperate for help. This even further weakens the team because now we have to look for a capable swingman/5th starter.

 

Instead of signing Damon, keeping a valuable Arroyo, and holding on to talent we are essentially losing the best leadoff hitter in the game, Arroyo, and top talent just because we couldnt shovel out an extra 12 million. For what? For a prospect CF, or a mediocre Cf....or some free agent we will overspend on anyway in a few years. Not very logical.

 

Also, since you seem to think his replacement will be better than Johhny Damon yet you name nobody.

Best leadoff hitter in the game? Someone drank deeply of the Boras cool-aid. I actually thought he was arguably in this conversation around the ASB, but he stopped getting lucky on his BABIP and his OBP took a noticeable dive.

 

Damon's good and he will be missed, but the impact of his departure is likely to decrease every year because he will be playing the most physically demanding position in the game one year older each time. This isn't speculation talking, this backed up by age-based trend analysis by some the smartest statistical minds in the game. PECOTA and PrOPS have him, and all players heading into their mid-30s, on a pretty steady decline over the next 4 years.

 

I know these systems are fairly pessimistic and are based on trends set by all players, not just he elite, but at some point these declines do occur. They did for Bernie Williams after he turned 33, just with a higher peak, but his rate of descent was actually greater than the projections. Damon's '05 was 50% higher than his PECOTA VORP, but he actually underperformed his projected WARP (5.5 actual, 7.2 PECOTA).

 

And his durability, a big selling point for him, is going to be affected too. He plays go for broke both in the field and on the basepaths, which is great, but his body is starting to break down from this style of play. He was a ghost of his 1st half self after the shoulder injury last year. At some point, his style of play is going to have to be curtailed, affecting his production, or it's going to put him on the DL for a good chunk of time.

 

Thinking his replacement will be better in 2008/2009 is silly if he doesn't suffer any drop off, but thinking he won't decline is even sillier IMO.

[SCM33]

And his durability, a big selling point for him, is going to be affected too. He plays go for broke both in the field and on the basepaths, which is great, but his body is starting to break down from this style of play. He was a ghost of his 1st half self after the shoulder injury last year. At some point, his style of play is going to have to be curtailed, affecting his production, or it's going to put him on the DL for a good chunk of time.

 

Thinking his replacement will be better in 2008/2009 is silly if he doesn't suffer any drop off, but thinking he won't decline is even sillier IMO.

 

I think we as Sox fans make excuses for why he wasnt resigned. I would kill for players to play for me as hard as Johnny did. We are flip floppers. We complain about how hard Manny plays, then rationalize Damon leaving by saying that he will hurt himself playing so hard. There is no doubt that he will decline, and your PECOTA numbers show that however, the market was set with the Furcal signing and we choose to not foot the bill. I still believe not signing him hurts us more in the longrun. You never know what our prospects will pan out to, just like we know we are taking a risk trading for someone elses prospects. With Damon, at least there was a scale to predict what you were going to get. He may never put up the same numbers as a Yankee, he may do better....but as Sox fans we knew what to expect.

[ORS]

Anyways...didnt mean to start controversy with my statement, but I know thats what is going to be the end result...sorry

Here's why it will cause controversy:

..that is definately something I noticed about the Sox and their fans. They are more concerned about the Yankees then themselves.

You make generalizations about all Sox fans based on the comment of one. I know you have heard this from more than one person, but that doesn't justify labeling everyone. Perhaps if you were to say something like, "It seems like a lot Sox fans do this...", then less people would get upset. Personally, I want the Sox to win first and foremost, but if they don't, then it wouldn't ruin my day if the Yankees lost. I'm pretty sure this is how most feel, just as it is how you feel with the opposite results.