Curtis Granderson isn’t the first high-priced veteran being asked to move out of center field in New York.
Johnny Damon shifted to left when Melky Cabrera started playing more center in 2007 and the Yankees went on to win a World Series two years later.
“I knew it was either going to happen either with Cabrera or [Brett] Gardner,” said Damon, who was also battling health issues at the time. “They put me in left to save me.”
But it doesn’t always go that smoothly.
“I’m sure Curtis will be fine,” Mike Cameron said by phone about Granderson’s potential move to left, with Gardner taking over in center for the Yankees. “But then, I thought I’d be fine, too.”
Cameron, now retired, was the Mets’ center fielder in the winter of 2004 when general manager Omar Minaya and manager Willie Randolph told him the team was interested in signing Carlos Beltran.
“I was a Gold Glove center fielder,” Cameron said. “Initially you think, ‘Why can’t he play right?’ But when they’re going to sign Carlos Beltran to a $119 million contract, you don’t have much to say. So I was gracious enough to move.”
Cameron laughed as he recalled the conversation, but the end result wasn’t funny.
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He ended up missing most of spring training with wrist tendinitis after offseason surgery, which prevented Cameron and Beltran from getting comfortable.
And then on Aug. 11, 2005, the two had a frightening collision as they both dove for a ball in right-center in San Diego. Cameron suffered a concussion and multiple fractures in his face. He missed the rest of the year and was traded to the Padres for Xavier Nady after the season.
“I think it still could have worked without that incident in San Diego,” said Minaya, who now works for the Padres. “They were two of the best center fielders in the league and we thought it would be great to have them out there together. But that collision was one of the worst I’ve ever seen.”
Cameron wasn’t thrilled with the idea of playing right field again the next year, so the Mets shipped him to the Padres. He won another Gold Glove in center in 2006.
There’s not one key for a successful transition, according to Cameron. In addition to getting used to new angles on the field, as well as different ways to battle the sun during day games, Granderson will have to alter his style of play.
“Your instinct is to go after every ball as hard as you can, but when you move, you’ve got to be a little less attacking,” Cameron said. “You have to change your aggressiveness and not go after things as hard.”
That didn’t happen on the infamous play in San Diego, when each player was running at full speed.
“If you had a natural right fielder out there, it never would have happened,” Cameron said. “I’m lucky I lived to talk about it. After that, I wasn’t the same out there and I didn’t think I could play right field.”
Still, he believes Granderson and Gardner can make it work.
“The best thing to do is to make a quick decision and stay with it so everyone has peace of mind,” Cameron said. “And don’t take it as a demotion. If everyone is in on it being the best move for the team, just put aside your ego and hope for the best. You really don’t know how it’s going to work out until you do it.”
— Additional reporting by George A. King III in Tampa