A-Fraud?
Not in Johnny Damon’s book.
“All I know is, A-Rod is such a great teammate,” the Yankee center fielder said last night at the 29th annual Thurman Munson Awards in Manhattan – on the same day former Bomber manager Joe Torre was in town promoting his new book, whose references to Alex Rodriguez as “A-Fraud” have caused a stir.
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“[A-Rod] is just a great guy who works harder than anybody,” Damon added. “Alex is one of the greatest players ever, and I would put my odds on him to win another MVP this year.”
Damon made his comments before receiving one of six Munson awards, given to athletes whose charitable contributions have helped children and adults suffering form intellectual disabilities.
Damon said he has no plans to read the Torre book. “I’m sure we will hear every bit about it from you guys every day,” he said.
The Mets’ Carlos Beltran, also honored with a Munson Award, gets mentioned in Torre’s book as well. The manager wrote that Beltran, when he was a free agent, wanted to be a Yankee so he could “hide amongst the trees.”
“I never met with Joe Torre, so I don’t know what type of person he is,” said Beltran. “When I met with the Yankees as a free agent, he wasn’t there [at the negotiations], so if he said what he said, that’s just an opinion.”
Meanwhile, Beltran said he was pleased the Mets re-signed Oliver Perez, but he did not push to bring Manny Ramirez to Flushing.
“We have done a good job,” Beltran said. “What we have with Francisco Rodriguez, J.J. Putz and now, adding Oliver, I do believe with the whole group that we have, we are good enough to win our division.”