Hair today, gone tomorrow

Johnny Damon, center field, New York Yankees.

Pardon me while I projectile vomit.

The defection of one of the most universally popular Red Sox in years is a bummer to say the least, one more sad reminder that the rivalry means so much more to fans than the players.

News such as this would have been more devastating, oh, three years ago, however. Current mismanagement considered, all I can say is thank god the Red Sox won the World Series; no amount of the Yankees' dirty money can buy our memories of October, 2004.

As the timeless picture above suggests, Damon played a recurring role in the best moments of our lives as Sox fans. For that we'll be forever grateful, and so I promise to throw only the really small batteries at him when he and his noodle arm return to center field at Fenway for the first time. For our old friend Johnny, no DieHards from the diehards!

Yeah . . . As you can probably tell, we're gassed, semi-coherent and more braindead than usual tonight. It's 3:30 a.m., we just got home from Boston and my sunny, sweet and extremely determined 2-year-old daughter will be hollering "Daddy! Up!" in about three hours. Sleep is in the immediate forecast. But we vow to be back with a full-length post on Traitor Johnny's defection Thursday.

In the meantime, check out our recent interview with the good folks at RedSoxNation.net. Oh, and please, if you get the chance, click here and give nominee TATB some love in the Best MLB Blog category. You vote for us enough, we promise to tell you what a Dangling Chad really means.

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As for today's Completely Random Baseball Card:



So much for Johnny Rock Star. Shaving-fetishist Steinbrenner is going to make Damon look like a hairless cat.