Johnny Damon just recently declined to be traded away from the Detroit Tigers to the Boston Red Sox after he was placed on waivers by Detroit earlier this week. Being a Tigers fan, I couldn't have been happier. Baseball players around the league need to take note as to why he did so, and it isn't like the Tigers have a huge contract with him. He only signed a one year deal last year. Boston is trying to make a late season push into the playoffs, which is why they went after him.
This is the best situation for all of baseball because Damon wants to stay in Detroit to be a mentor to the younger players, and Detroit has a ton of them. How could people not like that? He was contacted by several Red Sox players about coming back to Boston, players he won a World Series with, players he knows and know well. He was also approached by some of the younger Tigers players about staying on and helping them grow into the big league.
In the end, he chose Detroit because he says he loves the city and the organization, but more than that, I think he loves to be that veteran player that each and every teammate can come up to and ask for baseball advice from. He is what people refer to as a great 'clubhouse guy'. The person that can say the right things at the right times to ignite that spark that younger teams need throughout the grueling haul of a one hundred ans sixty two game season.
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