As soon as tomorrow, at Yankee Stadium, the viewing will be held. His hair might be cut, his beard shaved, his predilection for solid colors shelved for the allure of pinstripes. His baptism to the Yankees will, in effect, be his living wake as a member of the Red Sox.
And with that benumbing sight will set in the realities: He is gone, and he must be replaced.
''We have a list of people we're going to go after," Sox co-general manager Jed Hoyer promised yesterday.
Barring a blockbuster deal, the list figures to include no one in Damon's class -- as an offensive catalyst, as a winner, as a marketing commodity capable of transcending race and gender, or as a media magnet who in answering the hard questions made life easier for his teammates.
''He has been a team leader," Sox president and CEO Larry Lucchino said yesterday. ''He has been an offensive force. He has been a cult figure. He has been, in some ways, the personification of the franchise. And we will miss him.
''We will miss him."
So, who is on the Sox' list? The team is not saying, but any of the following players could be on a potential Sox list under the heading ''Possible Trade Targets": Seattle's Jeremy Reed, Cleveland's Coco Crisp, the Cubs' Corey Patterson, San Diego's Dave Roberts, Tampa Bay's Joey Gathright, Minnesota's Torii Hunter, Philadelphia's Jason Michaels, and Texas's Brad Wilkerson. The following could fall under the heading ''Free Agent Possibilities": Juan Encarnacion (formerly of the Marlins), Preston Wilson (Washington), Terrence Long (Kansas City).
There also were indications yesterday that the Sox could use the money earmarked for Damon and go in a different direction, namely the signing of top free agent pitcher Kevin Millwood.
Of those players mentioned above, only Crisp, Roberts, and Gathright are considered legitimate leadoff-hitter material. The Sox have already discussed a deal for Crisp this offseason. The Indians, according to multiple baseball executives, have received more hits on Crisp than any other player this offseason but have not come close to dealing the 26-year-old, who hit .300 with 16 homers and 69 RBIs last season.
However, Indians GM Mark Shapiro has an excellent working relationship with the Sox' baseball operations department (he worked with Sox co-GM Ben Cherington in Cleveland in 1998 and likes and respects Hoyer). Shapiro, earlier this week, in an interview for a profile of Hoyer and Cherington, called the Sox' baseball operations department ''well run, responsive, creative." So, while Cleveland appears likely to hold on to Crisp, the Sox certainly can feel comfortable picking up the phone to dial the Indians if they feel so inclined.
