[...]... johnny damon Playing baseball with his friends “all day long, day after day” as Damon recalled, honed his competitive skills By age 13, Johnny had the ripped physique of a 25-year-old, and he caught the interest of local baseball scouts—or “birddogs,” as baseball insiders call them What they saw was a young teenager who could run like a deer and hit the cover off the ball By the time Johnny. .. running laps around the family’s house Johnny was also close to getting his first taste of baseball at Fort Campbell His mother had signed James and Johnny up for a local baseball league Johnny was going to play T-ball, and James was going to play baseball The family, though, moved once again before the season could start From Army Brat to Baseball Prodigy Luckily for Johnny, the family’s next relocation... chance to go out Yankee Stadium’s Yankee Killer Johnny Damon connects on a grand slam in Game 7 of the 2004 American League Championship Series His second-inning home run gave the Boston Red Sox a 6-0 lead against the New York Yankees Two innings later, Damon hit another round-tripper johnny damon famously short right-field porch improved those odds, and Damon watched in seemingly slow motion as the... pastime for Johnny Johnny liked to make new friends but, deep down, he was a quiet kid For years, Johnny battled a stuttering problem that made him shy around other kids “My thoughts just raced ahead of my tongue,” Damon said “I’d sing songs as therapy, and I got better, but I just kept quiet most of the time.” AT HOME ON THE DIAMOND Soon he was letting his baseball bat do the talking Johnny began... talking Johnny began to discover baseball and found he had a rare talent despite his young age In his first year of T-ball, Johnny practically hit a home run every time he took a swing at the tee Even before he started to play organized sports, Johnny had 11 12 johnny damon been a natural athlete When he began to play soccer, he used his speed to dart across the field But baseball was the sport that would... baseball became less important to Johnny He began to get into the wrong types of activities and spent more time with his friends Eventually his brother, James, saw that Johnny could be getting himself into trouble and sat him down for a talk James let him know that there were not too many Johnny Damons around and that he could play baseball in college and beyond if he wanted Johnny realized that his brother... coaches would not let him seek his stardom on offense, Johnny quit the team Besides, he was playing baseball all year round by that time Of course, Johnny did not always get his way on the high school baseball team, either Though he made the varsity squad in his first year, Johnny struggled initially, unable to harness the joy he felt when he played sandlot baseball as a kid and blasted homer after homer... Cardinals) In fact, during his high school baseball career, Johnny would play with many talented young players who would end up joining him in the major leagues In his junior year, Johnny s dedication to baseball was once again put to the test An avid runner who had starred on the Dr Phillips track team, Johnny nonetheless had to choose between the two spring sports when his baseball games became more and more... baseball scholarship was not going to be free At the same time, Johnny was enticed by the 19 20 johnny damon chance to become an even bigger star in college, playing before bigger crowds and enjoying the life of a college student In the end, being drafted by Kansas City persuaded Johnny to skip college and go straight into professional baseball Johnny was more than satisfied with that The Royals were a... Luckily for Damon, his brother stepped in again and helped track down sports agent Scott Boras, who handles the contracts of some of the biggest names in baseball Boras had run into Damon once in high school, and he helped advise James Damon in negotiating a contract with the Royals Damon eventually signed for a $250,000 bonus and a monthly salary of $800 As a teenager growing up without much money, Damon . Schilling Ichiro Suzuki Bernie Williams Ted Williams Johnny Damon Johnny Damon Brian O’Connell BaseBall superstars JOHNNY DAMON Copyright © 2008 by Infobase Publishing All.