TBA

Happy Holidays, Red Sox fans! This is the guy who packed our center fielder onto his sleigh, which was already overloaded with other teams’ favorite players, dolls, toy trucks, foodstuffs, and holiday decorations; forced his haggard little dog to haul the huge, ill-gotten load up a great mountain peak; and then hid everything in his secret lair like a sicko-billionaire pack rat.
Sox pitcher Curt Schilling said it best about Boras and other Agents of Evil: “[They] are the ONLY people in baseball that take from the game, and give nothing back. There may be the odd case in which this might not fit, but I haven't seen it. I haven't seen any agent, or agency, opening up inner city youth programs, helping under-privileged kids get baseball gear, etc.”*
Now, TBA knows the players are not blameless in these contract debacles. Lord knows, if someone can explain to us how a person like Damon, who surely is already a multi-millionaire, is better off with $13 million per year than he is with $10 million, we are listening!
We believe the Red Sox made a fair offer (4 years, $40 million). Especially considering that at the end of the deal, Damon will be 37.
What really grinds our gears about this whole contract process is the lawyerly and statistical mumbo-jumbo of the Agent. Witness Sunday’s Boston Globe article, where chief baseball scribe Gordon Edes quotes the Damon/Boras manifesto, which player and agent cobbled together to market the center fielder.
Of course Damon did those things in Boston. He was a fine player here. But is he possessed of a sorcerer’s secrets? Can he, after reaching base, then conjure doubles down the line that allow him to advance to third base? Is he able to summon the mighty home-run that plates himself?
No. And do the Yankees have people to bat behind Damon of the Manny Ramirez/David Ortiz octane? Most certainly not.
We assume the manifesto continues, but it is doubtful that it asks any tough questions. How many weak Damon fly balls to Right Field did Friendly Fenway turn into home-runs? How many other balls hit to Right at Fenway became triples instead of close plays at Second Base as they would in other parks?
More: in the three-year period 2003-05, Damon’s batting average at Fenway park was .318. Away from Fenway, it was .278. His Fenway OPS was .836; away OPS was .773. In the same period, Damon's batting average at his new home, Yankee Stadium, was .265. OPS? .702.
Compare and contrast these numbers with those in their manifesto. Note that they use a 3-year period when referencing the Yankees numbers, but only a 2-year span when citing Damon's achievements. Whither 2003 in their analysis?
And, damn your eyes, Boras, but what the hell does Chuck Knoblauch have to do with anything?
In closing, we cannot resist a final parting shot at you, Mr. Damon. We liked you. You were a good hitter and you always played hard. We will always fondly remember you as a member of the 2004 World Series winning team. But, TBA and Mrs. TBA saw the house in our town that you were supposedly going to buy this summer, and it is as plain as the nose on our faces that you do not need all that extra money.
Some house! It was a castle.

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*This quote came from somewhere on Sons of Sam Horn (SoSH), a few years ago. SoSH is a message board run by Red Sox fans. It was then quoted by this guy. TBA apologizes for not being able to attribute the source material more accurately. SoSH is a wonderful baseball resource.