A Proto-Hominid Dons Pinstripes

They're draping the black bunting in Beantown after Red Sox center fielder Johnny Damon, the beloved Australopithecus of the American League, has agreed to a four-year, $52 illion contract with the rival New York Yankees. (We've got the regular story as link no. 39 and an incisive Buster Olney thinkpiece as no. 34.) This gives the Yanks 5 of the AL's top 12 run-scorers for next season — though, as they showed this past season, a $209 million payroll doesn't mean that aging superstars will necessarily jell as a squad or stay healthy — and means the Sox have to decide what to do to in Damon's absense. Bloggers, as you may've guessed, are stepping up to the proverbial plate: AthleticsNation has some guesses as to what the Sox will try to do next; Gaslamp has some computer-enhanced imagery of what Damon will look like as a Yankee; while JD sums it up for us, writing the trade "makes the point anywhere... everyone's for sale." So it would seem. If we were a Boston schoolchild, we wouldn't believe in nothin' no more.

Posted by Philip Ewing at December 22, 2005 10:38 AM

Category: Sport Spectator