February 23, 2007 By DOM AMORE, Courant Staff Writer
TAMPA, Fla. -- Johnny Damon has reveled in the fruits of life in America. He plays baseball for $13 million a year, and he wears fame comfortably.
Still beaming over his new baby girl, he arrived for his second Yankees training camp this week pronouncing, "Life just keeps getting better."
The shoulder-length hair is long gone, but Damon is not shy about wearing patriotism on his sleeve.
"I know we're [divided] about the war," Damon said of the U.S. involvement in Iraq. "But we need to take care of these soldiers who've made the sacrifice for our freedom. ... It's about our country. It bothers me when people dog the country. We're free, we have the ability to make millions of dollars, and people are complaining."
For Damon, his new passion is not about politics, but people. He became a national spokesman for the Wounded Warrior Project last September, and has taken a personal interest in helping wounded veterans rebuild their lives.
His father, Jimmy, was a career Army officer who served in Vietnam. Johnny Damon, 33, spent much of his early life on Army bases, and often wears military-themed attire; it's part of him.
"My father's told me things in the last few years that he wouldn't tell me as a child," Damon said. "The thing that really inspired me is when I went to Walter Reed hospital last year, for the second time, and I saw the progress people were making. Their spirits are so high, in spite of everything they've gone through, and they say they would do it again."
When Damon launched The Professional Baseball Video Game League last winter, he made sure Sgt. Steven Andrew Robison was included with the major league players who are taking part.
"When Johnny gets involved in something, you get the person," said Jason Giambi, who hopes to join Damon in some of his upcoming projects. "He's a giver. This means a lot to him. He has a ton of ideas."
The Wounded Warrior Project helps address the various needs of soldiers wounded in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere. Damon is passionately concerned about the quality of life wounded soldiers return home to. If counseling is needed, Damon wants to facilitate it. If a wounded veteran has a dream that's humanly possible to reach, he wants to make sure money is no obstacle.
"We want to make sure they can have a normal life," Damon said. "We want to help set things up where they can play golf, ski, do a lot of different things. ... We want them to get what they need to do the things we're all able to do."
Damon is hoping to start a program where major league players visit wounded veterans in their area.
"That's what's important," Damon said. "These soldiers come from all over the country, and to have players from there visit with them ... It's just important to me that we not forget the sacrifices they've made to keep us free."
Adventurous Day
It's a routine part of spring training, the popup drills. But the degree of difficulty moved off the charts Friday.
"They had it set on knuckleball or something," Derek Jeter said.
For about 15 hilarious minutes, some of the highest-paid players in history could not catch simple popups, and the fans at Legends Field joined in the laughter.
"The machine has two wheels, and one was set faster than the other," manager Joe Torre said. "It took a few minutes to get it set right."
The baseballs, shot out of the machine from the plate, had a weird backspin and proved impossible to judge and catch, especially with a very high sky and a little breeze. The first one, out to left field, completely fooled Hideki Matsui, who started in, then raced back and couldn't catch up to it on the warning track. Jeter settled under one at shortstop, then lurched to his left and dropped the ball, the crowd howling. Robinson Cano had a similar experience, then Alex Rodriguez. Jorge Posada looked like he had one measured near the plate, but he stopped to avoid running into the machine itself and it fell five feet from him.
Finally, Jeter was able to hold on to one with a basket catch and the crowd cheered, Rodriguez raising both arms to celebrate.
"They're veteran players and they don't want to give the idea they weren't taking it seriously," Torre said. "They understood the main thing was to practice calling for the ball and calling each other off. But it doesn't hurt to have a little fun." ... Mariano Rivera threw live batting practice with the other relievers, so despite his extra rest time this winter, he is up to speed. "No problemo," he said. "I wasn't trying to do anything special, it was BP. Everything felt fine."
Melky's Role
Torre and the coaches sat down with Melky Cabrera to explain his role as the fourth outfielder. "We told him we want him to come to the park every day and prepare like he's an everyday, regular player," Torre said. "He'll get time at all three positions, and he'll take some road trips [in spring training] and DH for us so we can get him used to pinch hitting." ... The starting pitchers will throw BP again today. Torre is planning only one intrasquad game, next Tuesday.
