As he gears up for both the playoffs and his upcoming free agency, Johnny Damon isn’t exactly having a great September.
The left fielder goes into tonight’s opener against the Mariners in Seattle in a pretty severe slump. In Damon’s last 11 games, he has gone 6-for-39 (.154) — and all six knocks were singles.
The skid has dropped Damon’s average from .293 on Sept. 2 down to .282.
Damon will turn 36 in November, so he may be simply run down at this point in the season, but this is the second straight year he has struggled down the stretch. Last season, in his final 22 games, Damon batted .215 (17-for-79). He did, however, smack five home runs during that span.
In 2007, Damon was spectacular down the stretch: He batted .349 (29-for-83) in his final 19 games.
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There still has not been a decision made on what Derek Jeter will submit to the Hall of Fame to recognize his breaking the Yankees’ all-time hits record a week ago.
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If Damon, who has 24 home runs, delivers one more homer and if Robinson Cano (23 homers) smacks two more, the Yankees will tie a major league record for the most teammates with 25 homers in a season. They have four, and the record is held by Damon’s 2003 Red Sox, who had six.
Mark Teixeira is at 35 homers, Nick Swisher has 27 and both Alex Rodriguez and Hideki Matsui have 25. Jorge Posada has 21, so if he gets hot, the Yankees could not just tie the Red Sox record, but establish a new one.