Injuries can’t knock out the Red Sox speedy center fielder when it counts.
FORT MYERS, Fla. – The word “excuse” just isn’t in Johnny Damon’s vocabulary.
The Boston Red Sox speedy center fielder hurt his right knee and dislocated his right ring finger late last season and still started 151 games. His numbers fell off in the second half of the season – after hitting .308 with 22 stolen bases before the All-Star break, he hit .260 and stole only nine more bases in the second half – he would never blame an injury on the slowdown.
It just isn’t in his nature.
“A little injury is not going to keep me out,” said Damon, who counts Cal Ripken Jr. as one of his role models. “There is never an excuse for me. They pay me a lot of money to get out there on the field, to go out there and play hard and play good, and I felt like I did that even though I wasn’t quite the same guy as in the first half.”
Even when a left elbow injury suffered during batting practice this spring knocked him out for a couple of days, he insisted that if it were the regular season he would not have missed any time.
His goal this spring has been to work on being more consistent than last season when he hit .286, scored a team-high 118 runs and 31 stolen bases. He led the American League with 11 triples in his first season with the Red Sox, who signed him to a $31 million, four-year free agent deal from the Oakland Athletics in December 2001.
“Unfortunately, when I went through my little slump not many other guys did well either,” said Damon, who is hitting .381 (8-for-21) with four stolen bases and six runs this spring. “We weren’t getting too much production from anyone.”
Damon, 28, and entering his eighth full year in the major leagues, is making sure the team gets production from him all season long. He is working on his bunting and trying to cut down on the fly balls he hits. Anything to get on base and give the guys batting behind him a chance to drive him in.
“I feel like at the plate I need to work on a few things to help me through the tough periods of the season,” he said. “I am trying to perfect the bunt, trying to stay on top of the ball, because we all know a fly ball from me is pretty much an out.”
While most of the team was on a recent spring training road trip, Damon stayed behind at City of Palms Park for some individualized instruction on bunting.
“I like to swing the bat, but I also have to be smart and I am still a leadoff hitter, and that bunt is a weapon,” he said. “The more I can get on base the more chances I get to score.”
Johnny Pesky, the longtime Red Sox hitting instructor attended the session. He likes Damon the baseball player, anmon the
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