The 36-year-old was deciding yesterday whether to return to the Sox; the teams have 48 hours to work out a deal. And after he went 2 for 4 with an RBI in a 12-2 victory over Kansas City, he said he was leaning toward staying with the Tigers. “My gut and everything else tells me Detroit’s the place for me,’’ he told reporters. He said he’d talk to team president Dave Dombrowski before making his decision.
“He’s a special player,’’ said Sox catcher Jason Varitek, an ex-Damon teammate. “He’s pushing Hall of Fame-type numbers. And you add that Johnny’s great in the clubhouse, he’s a gamer on the field, and one hell of a teammate.’’
“It would be a nice opportunity,’’ Varitek added. “But we’ll let him do what he needs to do. Johnny, aside from being a great player, he makes athletic adjustments offensively. He plays hurt, he doesn’t always play at 100 percent. So much of it is how he plays the game. He plays the game right. It pushes the energy.
“He’s definitely an exciting player.’’
Varitek wanted to make sure his praise of Damon wasn’t seen as a slap at the current outfielders.
“That’s no discredit to anybody, from Darnell [McDonald] to Billy [Hall] out there, to everybody,’’ he said. “Those guys have done one heck of a job, all of them. All sorts of different roles and different guys. Obviously it would add to our depth.
“Johnny knows we love him and always have. It’s wishful thinking right now.’’
Maybe so, but with injuries having decimated the team, Damon could help. The Sox entered last night’s game with four starters — Mike Cameron, Jacoby Ellsbury, Kevin Youkilis, and Dustin Pedroia — likely to miss the rest of the season.
The Sox haven’t made any huge trade to improve their chances in the wild-card race, content to use call-ups from Pawtucket.
So while the decision seems a no-brainer to Red Sox Nation, it’s not so easy for Damon.
