After Francona hung up the calls started to sound like Red Sox Suicide Hotline. There was Marv from Boston on the line to lament the loss of Damon. Why would a Sox fan from Boston feel the need to dial in to a New York talk show to discuss the matter? No doubt the lines to WEEI were swamped, but still. After Marv, there was another Sox fan, and then another. The really funny thing was that when they finally got to a call from a Yankee fan, that guy was totally irate about the signing.
Which is another aspect of the Damon infanity. A lot of (really ignorant) Yankee fans are really unhappy about the trade. They'd rather see the rapidly declining Bernie Williams (who re-signed with the Yanks yesterday) or even Bubba "I got it, Sheff!" Crosby play center than a guy who played for the Sox, especially a guy who was the face of the Sox during the worst debacle in recent Yankee history. There's a great post at Mike's Baseball Rants about the phenomenon. Mike likens the situation unto the scene in Citizen Kane when the entire staff of the Chronicle are hired to work for the Enquirer. He also points out the the Yanks and Sox have a long history of players moving back and forth between the two clubs. Good stuff, as usual.
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Last night I started making chocolate truffles for presents. What an incredible mess I made, and I still have to coat the things in milk chocolate. I had the George C. Scott version of A Christmas Carol on in the background. God bless us, everyone!
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ETA: It's now being reported that Flanders has picked up a stocking stuffer for the Dodgers, signing Brett Tomko to a two year deal. Not a great pitcher, but he is an innings eater and a better option than handing DJ Houlton the ball every fifth day. Unfortunately, he's more likely to be used as a replacement for handing the ball to Jeff Weaver every fifth day. We still need a real pitcher.
