Johnny Damon, OF, 1995-2012
Career Stats: .284/.352/.433, 2,769 hits, 1,668 runs, 235 HR, 408 SB
When Damon couldn’t find another job after struggling through an injury-riddled 2012 season before being released in August by the Indians, many just assumed he was done, and he never got another shot to pursue his goal of reaching 3,000 hits, ending up 231 hits short at age 38.
Damon got much more attention for his long hair and beard on the 2004 Red Sox team that broke through to end Boston’s long World Series drought, only to then leave after the 2005 season for the Red Sox primary rival, the New York Yankees. Many baseball fans don’t remember Damon for putting up big stats in that era, just his outlandish personality. That may have worked against him.
What’s also worked against Damon is that much of the best work of his career happened in Kansas City, and this is not the Royals that we know now. This Royals squad was covered about as well as the Dominican Summer League in baseball circles, so when Damon had 42 doubles, 10 triples, 16 home runs, stole 46 bases, and scored 136 runs on a team that finished in 4th place in its own division, nearly no one even noticed, as evidenced by the fact that his performance that season only garnered a 19th place finish in the MVP voting that season.
Damon still had solid seasons in Boston, but by the time the Red Sox had turned around their fortunes, Damon was no longer the speed demon he once was, becoming more of a guy who hit 30 doubles and 20 home runs while stealing 15-25 bases. Those are still tremendous number, but people rarely noticed, partly because Damon was more stable than he was ever elite, only having 200 hits once, having 40 doubles once, having more than 20 home runs twice, and never winning a batting title in spite of hitting .300 5 times.
When you look at the HOF numbers, JAWS has Damon at 44.4, while a HOF CFer typically has a 57.8 score. His black ink is 6 instead of 27, his gray ink is 77 instead of 144, his Hall of Fame Monitor is 90 instead of 100, and Hall of Fame Standards is 45 instead of 50. His numbers all rank low, but it’s notable that his age 37 and age 38 “most similar” from B-Ref is Paul Molitor, who then finished his career for his home town Twins, collecting 530 hits in his last 3 seasons to end up with just over 3,300 hits. Another 500 hits would comfortably put Damon over 3,000, and that would have likely ensured his place in Cooperstown.