One Last Try ...

Johnny Made One Last, Desperate Attempt at Bonding
with the Locals Before Leaving Town

It's Just a Flesh Wound

Damon Supporters Fight On!

King Arthur: [after Arthur's cut off both of the Black Knight's arms] Look, you stupid Bastard. You've got no arms left.
Black Knight: Yes I have.
King Arthur: *Look*!
Black Knight: It's just a flesh wound. -- Monty Python and the Holy Grail, 1975

El Tiante Takes Out the 'Garbage'

"Luis Tiant, 65, made it clear he didn't think Damon should have been greeted so harshly.

" 'That's [garbage],' Tiant told the Hartford Courant, who left the Red Sox and signed as a free agent with the Yankees in 1979. 'What difference does it make? You go where you want to go. ... What about when they don't want you anymore and they kick [you] out? And then I see signs - 'Judas, Judas' - like he's a bad guy. That's [garbage]. You don't do that [stuff]. He's a human being like everybody else. He's got a heart.' " -- 5.3.06, Hartford Courant

McAdam: Damon Deserved Better

"He frequently ran into walls, and on one notable occasion, his own teammate [Damian Jackson]. Facing free agency, he played despite significant pain in his shoulder. Once, in Texas, he privately acknowledged that his shoulder was worse than ever, but nonchalantly shrugged: 'My team needs me.'

"As a reward for his on-field excellence and unselfish behavior, Damon was treated like some common criminal Monday. Ever classy in the face of boorishness, he tipped his batting helmet to the fans before stepping into the batter's box in the first inning." -- 5.3.06, Sean McAdam, Providence Journal

Damon: Blame Red Sox Brass

" 'There are not many teams who fail to pursue their most popular players or their better players," Damon told the New York Daily News before last night's rainout. 'I know the Yankees would never do that. If Derek Jeter's [contract is] up, if Bernie Williams is up, they're going to keep them.'

" 'These people are real upset, but it's year after year,' Damon said before naming several other members of the 2004 World Series team that departed. 'Me, [Kevin] Millar, Pedro [Martinez] - one of the game's greatest pitchers of all time,' he said. 'He's always going to be looked at as a Red Sox, but there's a line to the way you feel you should be treated and the way other things happen.' "

" 'Walking down the streets, people said, 'We hate that you're a Yankee, but we loved the way you played,' he said. Fans are generally nice -- they just wanted to get under my skin. I have thick skin.' " -- 5.3.06, Sam Borden, New York Daily News

" 'What people have a hard time understanding,' Johnny Damon told the New York Post yesterday, before the Yankees-Red Sox game was postponed because of rain, 'is that there's a lot of respect on both sides of this rivalry, in both clubhouses. You can't have the kind of battles we've had with each other the past few years and not feel that. It's not possible.' " -- 5.3.06, Mike Vaccaro, New York Post

BDD E-mail Mania: Are the Boo-Birds Feeling Guilty That They Weren't
on the Same Page as Coco Crisp, Big Papi, Keith Foulke, Peter Gammons, Jerry Remy, Bob Ryan, and Superfan Dennis Drinkwater?
Eric Wilbur: Boston Boo-ster Club

No Waiting in Rain for Yankee Fans Tonight

But Red Sox Fans May Get $oaked Again

More from the New York Post ...
Ortiz May Trump MVP Race Card, While A-Rod Has a 'Pink Elephant'

" 'The voters got it wrong,' an AL manager recently told the New York Post's Joel Sherman unsolicited. 'I would do almost anything to avoid facing Ortiz late in a close game. I don't feel anything close to the same fear with Rodriguez. What is more valuable than that?'

... "There have been a lot of empty moments in big spots since and, because it is A-Rod, it is noticed. He knows that. Before last night's rainout, Rodriguez agreed the subject 'is the pink elephant in the room.' You know it is there, but you don't want to discuss it.

"But, he insists, 'I don't take the pink elephant to the plate with me. I love those situations. I want those challenges.' " -- 5.3.06, Joel Sherman, New York Post

Players: Jeter Overrated (He's No Alex Gonzalez)

"In a Sports Illustrated poll of 470 players, Jeter was named on 9 percent of the ballots as the most over-rated. Mets center fielder Carlos Beltran was second with 7 percent and Alex Rodriguez was third with 6 percent.

" 'I don't care, I guess anything I do now is a plus,' Jeter said with a grin. 'At least I am in good company.' " -- 5.3.06, George King, New York Post