BOSTON -- Johnny Damon was back at Fenway Park for a ceremonial Thursday night with his shaggy long hair (tucked neatly into a man bun) and beard -- erasing those bitter memories Red Sox fans have of when he was a clean-cut Yankee.
The occasion for Damon’s return?
His formal induction into the Red Sox Hall of Fame, a class that also includes Jon Lester and Mike Timlin. Bill Mueller, who teamed with Damon and Timlin on the beloved 2004 curse-busting Red Sox, was honored for the memorable moment of that walk-off homer against Mariano Rivera on July 24, 2004, the same day Jason Varitek got into a brouhaha with Alex Rodriguez.
This newest group of Sox Hall of Famers represented three World Series-winning squads: Lester pitched for the 2007 and ‘13 Sox, while Timlin got his second ring with Boston (and fourth overall) in ‘07.
Damon’s presence stood out because of his role as the bearded face of those 2004 “Idiots,” a nickname that he dutifully gave the team for their carefree attitude.
And in case you wondered, Damon is still carefree. He relished in bringing back his signature '04 look at the age of 52.
“I feel like I’m back. I feel like He-Man,” said Damon. “I know a big movie is coming out, one of my favorite superheroes of all time, Masters of the Universe. I'm thrilled my hair is back. It's my identity now. I may get a trim or so. The fans of Boston love the look, and it's here for as long as it will stay.”
Boston fans hated when Damon left the Red Sox after the 2005 season and signed a four-year, $52 million contract to play with the rival Yankees. Boston’s best offer over that same term was $40 million.
Though business is business, Damon's departure felt personal to Red Sox fans because they were so enraptured by his look, his style of play and the grand slam and two-run homer he hit to beat the Yankees in Game 7 of that epic ‘04 ALCS.
“Yeah, it was a tough departure,” Damon remembers of going to New York, where he’d win a second World Series ring in 2009. “The sports world, the business side of it, is absolutely horrible. We understand everything that happened. But everyone knew how much I loved playing for Boston, and how much I still love coming back here.”
For every at-bat Damon took for the Yankees at Fenway Park for those four years, he was booed harshly. He gets it.
And he senses he’s been forgiven.
“I sure hope so, because it’s been 21 years,” Damon said. “Let’s definitely let bygones be bygones. But everyone knew what I brought to the table, and how I became the fan favorite. And you know, when the fan favorite isn't brought back and you go elsewhere, it's a tough one, and I saw so many fans yesterday who congratulated me and told me the reason why they love the Red Sox and [that] I was their favorite back in the day, and hopefully still their favorite now.”
Damon got huge cheers when he came on to the field to stand next to his freshly-minted Red Sox Hall of Fame plaque. He gestured animatedly toward the crowd, much like he did as a player from ‘02-’05.
He bumps into Red Sox fans all the time. What do they want to talk about?
“Oh, obviously, Game 7 [against the Yankees],” Damon said. “That's what the fans remember, the two home runs, six RBIs, coming back from [0-3 down] to the Yankees, and then on our way to the World Series to sweep the Cardinals.”
Lester was a Red Sox farmhand when Damon’s Sox won it all in ‘04, and he remembers being perturbed he wasn’t a part of it.
But Lester would do plenty later on. After overcoming cancer as a rookie in ‘06, Lester spent much of ‘07 rehabbing but was back in action the final months of that season and won clinching Game 4 of the World Series in Denver. The next year, he threw a no-hitter. The only reason Lester wasn’t the MVP of the ‘13 World Series title over the Cardinals is because David Ortiz decided to be superhuman.
Much like Damon, Lester had a tough departure from Boston, though the fans didn’t blame him. Lester hinted he would take a hometown discount in January 2014, but the discount was taken a bit too far and he turned it down. The Red Sox traded him to the Athletics at that July’s Trade Deadline.
By 2016, Lester was part of the fabled Cubs team that won it all for the first time since 1908. Lester was also elected to the Cubs Hall of Fame in recent months.
While his accomplishments in Chicago will always be something he will cherish, Boston, too, holds a special place in his heart.
“I mean, it's, it's everything,” Lester said. “They gave me the chance to put a uniform on and then to go through my personal stuff in ’06 and ’07, and for them to stick with me and treat my family the way they treated me and treated us. Two of my kids were born here. This was home for us for a long time.”