GaryMrMets
12-24-2005, 11:08 PM
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/yankees/story/377398p-320611c.html
Shorn nuff, Johnny
A clean-cut Damon puts on pinstripes
BY SAM BORDEN
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER
Having been transformed from hippie to hipster, Johnny Damon officially jilted the Red Sox yesterday to become the Yankees' new $52 million center fielder.
Damon, who called himself an idiot and wore his hair Jesus-style while helping the freewheeling 2004 Red Sox win their first World Series in an eon, sported a clean-cut metrosexual look at his introductory press conference at Yankee Stadium.
"First of all, what do you guys think about this?" Damon said, looking at the cameras and stroking his barren chin. "Obviously, keep on snapping away."
The new look came courtesy of Salon Ishi on Manhattan's East Side and won the approval of Damon's wife, Michelle, as well as Yankees boss George Steinbrenner.
"He looks like a Yankee, he sounds like a Yankee and he is a Yankee," Steinbrenner said in a statement.
"He looks good both ways," Michelle Damon said at the Stadium yesterday after the Yankees introduced their newest center fielder. "I actually prefer him with not that much facial hair."
Michelle isn't the only Damon family member to feel that way. Damon's dad, Jimmy, served in the Army and told the Daily News that he's a big fan of Steinbrenner's rules on appearance.
"When he was 14, I could say, 'Johnny, here's 20 bucks - keep the change, but go get a haircut,' and he would go," Jimmy Damon said in a phone interview. "That doesn't work as much now that he's older."
Michelle spoke with reporters while holding a box containing 18 roses - symbolic of her husband's number.
With real estate her passion, she should have no problem finding a deal on housing in the Big Apple. She bought her first house at age 19 and the pair formed J and M Investments to buy and sell properties.
While Johnny spent Thursday taking a physical and preparing himself for yesterday's press conference, Michelle found time to scope out a few apartments in Manhattan.
Still, she's not certain that they'll end up living in the city. Although Damon has a reputation as a fun-loving free spirit and Michelle is said to be as outspoken as her husband, they could opt for the suburbs.
"We'll have to come back and again later in the winter and look around more," Michelle said. "We're not sure yet. That's going to be the next step."
As for the man who will follow Bernie Williams in a center field lineage that includes Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle, Damon said he'll work hard to win over the fans who used to boo him in the Bronx when he played for the rival Bosox.
"This team really wanted me," he said. "And now I'm going to go out there and run through walls for them and hit and score lots of runs and bring another championship to New York."
Originally published on December 24, 2005
http://www.nydailynews.com/ips_rich_content/522-damon_wife.JPG
Fresh-faced Johnny Damon with his wife, Michelle, is introduced at Yankee Stadium yesterday as newest Bomber.
Shorn nuff, Johnny
A clean-cut Damon puts on pinstripes
BY SAM BORDEN
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER
Having been transformed from hippie to hipster, Johnny Damon officially jilted the Red Sox yesterday to become the Yankees' new $52 million center fielder.
Damon, who called himself an idiot and wore his hair Jesus-style while helping the freewheeling 2004 Red Sox win their first World Series in an eon, sported a clean-cut metrosexual look at his introductory press conference at Yankee Stadium.
"First of all, what do you guys think about this?" Damon said, looking at the cameras and stroking his barren chin. "Obviously, keep on snapping away."
The new look came courtesy of Salon Ishi on Manhattan's East Side and won the approval of Damon's wife, Michelle, as well as Yankees boss George Steinbrenner.
"He looks like a Yankee, he sounds like a Yankee and he is a Yankee," Steinbrenner said in a statement.
"He looks good both ways," Michelle Damon said at the Stadium yesterday after the Yankees introduced their newest center fielder. "I actually prefer him with not that much facial hair."
Michelle isn't the only Damon family member to feel that way. Damon's dad, Jimmy, served in the Army and told the Daily News that he's a big fan of Steinbrenner's rules on appearance.
"When he was 14, I could say, 'Johnny, here's 20 bucks - keep the change, but go get a haircut,' and he would go," Jimmy Damon said in a phone interview. "That doesn't work as much now that he's older."
Michelle spoke with reporters while holding a box containing 18 roses - symbolic of her husband's number.
With real estate her passion, she should have no problem finding a deal on housing in the Big Apple. She bought her first house at age 19 and the pair formed J and M Investments to buy and sell properties.
While Johnny spent Thursday taking a physical and preparing himself for yesterday's press conference, Michelle found time to scope out a few apartments in Manhattan.
Still, she's not certain that they'll end up living in the city. Although Damon has a reputation as a fun-loving free spirit and Michelle is said to be as outspoken as her husband, they could opt for the suburbs.
"We'll have to come back and again later in the winter and look around more," Michelle said. "We're not sure yet. That's going to be the next step."
As for the man who will follow Bernie Williams in a center field lineage that includes Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle, Damon said he'll work hard to win over the fans who used to boo him in the Bronx when he played for the rival Bosox.
"This team really wanted me," he said. "And now I'm going to go out there and run through walls for them and hit and score lots of runs and bring another championship to New York."
Originally published on December 24, 2005
http://www.nydailynews.com/ips_rich_content/522-damon_wife.JPG
Fresh-faced Johnny Damon with his wife, Michelle, is introduced at Yankee Stadium yesterday as newest Bomber.