We hadn’t heard from Johnny Damon in a while and now, bam…here he is.
Wednesday night, the retired outfielder was on the field at Fenway Park during the 2004 Boston Red Sox reunion and, along with Manny Ramirez, made a circus out of the event. Now, he’s appearing on radio shows, like some sort of reverse-Jose Canseco saying, get this…he was blackballed from baseball because he played clean.
“I played it clean. That’s what everybody’s going to be looking at. I think I’m one of the only players to come out and say, I guarantee you there is nothing I’ve done that enhanced my baseball career,” the 40-year-old told an Orlando radio station when asked about his Hall of Fame chances. “You can’t fault someone who has a chance to make $20 million, 50$ million, $100 million for going against the system to get to where they are. You can’t fault them, but I’m as clean as they came and I got booted out of the game because I’m clean.”
Damon acknowledges that he might come across as bitter, but everyone says that, right? No, no…not that being clean got them blackballed, but that they played clean.
So, why is Damon’s sudden admission of non-guilt any different? Some might speculate that the 18-year Major Leaguer is positioning himself for some sort of return to professional baseball. He’s not. The guy is clearly out there, reminding people he’s still a thing in hopes that his fans will flock to their television this fall when he battles 15 other celebrities on NBC’s “Celebrity Apprentice”.
Yup, the two-time World Champ is signed to be part of the cast of the latest installment of the Donald Trump-fronted reality (game?) show and, not that long ago, he was spotted in the streets of New York showing off his World Series rings and handing out free hot chocolate.
The other celebrities angling for Trump’s attention…Ian Ziering, Lorenzo Lamas, Geraldo Rivera, Kevin Jonas, Terrell Owens, Sig Hansen, Gilbert Gottfried, Keisha Knight Pulliam, Kenya Moore, Brandi Glanville, Kate Gosselin, Vivica Fox, Shawn Johnson, Leeza Gibbons and Jamie Anderson.
So, maybe Damon isn’t all that different Canseco after all. You might remember, the embattled slugger also competed on the show back in 2011. He quit after five episodes.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
