Johnny be good �� and fast: Johnny Damon has filled the Red Sox's long-standing need for speed and gives them a momentum-building force in their quest to run down the Yankees - Baseball

On first base after slapping a single to right, Johnny Damon waits and watches. His eyes are glued to the profile of MIke Mussina as the Yankees pitcher glances over his left shoulder. Damon is on his toes, feet wide apart, hands low. The instant Mussina commits to his delivery, Damon explodes for second base, his lengthy, powerful strides chewing up infield dirt. He beats the throw, though the momentum of his headfirst slide nearly carries his toes past the bag.

A sacrifice bunt later, Damon stands at third.

Nomar Garciaparra is up and he lofts a foul pop behind first base. First baseman Nick Johnson and second baseman Alfonso Soriano converge as Johnson makes the catch, but their legs tangle and both players fall. Damon tags and is off and running. He scores easily and the Red Sox celebrate a 1-0 lead on the way to a 4-2 victory. With any other Red Sox runner on third, the Yankees could have asked themselves, "Would we have gotten him out at home?" With Damon on third, the question is not worth asking.

With Damon on the Red Sox, the Yankees know the run Damon just generated is the kind the Red Sox could not produce with any frequency in 2001.

With Damon on the Red Sox, the Yankees know the Red Sox finally have a legitimate leadoff hitter.

With Damon on the Red Sox, the Yankees know they have to watch their backs. Something's gaining on them, and his name is Johnny Damon.

Start it up

"I wouldn't be here if I didn't believe I could be the difference" in the American League East race Damon says. "The Red Sox keep adding on to the jigsaw puzzle, and I feel that I'm a big piece of that puzzle."

As soon as the Red Sox traded away troublesome center fielder Carl Everett in the offseason, they stepped up their efforts to sign Damon, a free agent. They weren't concerned about Damon's early struggles with the A's last season, when he carried a .211 average in the middle of June. They knew his defense never was affected by his offense, plus they knew that he had finished strong at the plate. He hit .278 after the break and then got white-hot in the A's five-game loss to the Yankees in their division series, hitting .409, scoring three runs and stealing two bases.

"In a lot of close games, I can make a difference with my speed," says Damon, 28. "I went out there and had a big postseason against the Yankees. I almost single-handedly beat the Yankees."

The Red Sox do not need Damon to beat the Yankees--or anyone else--single-handedly. They already have the best 1-2 pitching punch in the American League in Pedro Martinez and Derek Lowe and plenty of firepower--Trot Nixon, Garciaparra, Manny Ramirez and Cliff Floyd-behind Damon in the lineup. Damon is not being asked to do it all, just start it all up.

"He gives them another dimension," Yankees manager Joe Torre says. "Like the Cubs, the Red Sox have never boasted any speed. They've mainly been a one-dimensional offense, with a history of waiting for that one big inning. Johnny gives them speed, which makes them that much tougher."

One stat best sums up Damon's importance to the Red Sox: The club entered the week with a 47-13 record when Damon scored and a 20-35 mark when he didn't.

As the Sox battle for a playoff spot down the stretch, they need Damon to finish the season as quickly as he started it. In the first two months, he hit .320, took a spot among the league leaders in runs scored and--no coincidence--the Red Sox galloped off to a 36-15 start. When Damon scored, the Red Sox were 24-3--including 15-0 when he scored twice. When the Red Sox skidded to a 27-29 record over the next two months, Damon hit .261 and his runs dropped. After a fast start in August, Damon was atop the league in runs scored.

"Johnny Damon makes things happen," Red Sox manager Grady Little says. "When he does make things happen, we win. And it works in reverse, too. When Johnny Damon doesn't make too much happen, sometimes we have a hard time getting things going offensively."

Just as the pressure on Martinez has been reduced immeasurably by the emergence of Lowe in the rotation, Damon's presence has aided the offense. Garciaparra is as much a linchpin to the Red Sox's attack as Damon but coming off nearly a season-long layoff because of a wrist injury, he has not been as consistent as a two-time batting champion is accustomed to being. One stat that has not suffered, however, is his RBI total. As Garciaparra's midsummer RBI in New York showed, Damon is helping the players around him.

"I feel thankful having him on the team and hitting in front of me," Garciaparra says. "When you have that type of leadoff guy, who can get on base and steal a base, it puts pressure on a pitcher."

Before every game, Damon checks the stats and videotape to review how quick the opposing starter is to the plate and how quick his move is to first. That research will determine how large a lead he will take. If a stolen base is not the result, Damon still can mess with the pitcher in other ways.

"Even with a faster pitcher out there, he's going to pay a lot more attention to me, which in turn can make it very good for the guy hitting behind me," Damon says. "He may see more fastballs, a flatter curveball or a couple of miles off the fastball, and that makes it easier to hit. The biggest thing I want is for the hitter coming up behind me to get a good pitch to hit."

With the exception of June, when the entire offense sagged, the Red Sox's month-by-month production has exceeded the numbers of the past two years. Through July, the Red Sox were averaging about half a run per game more than the past two seasons. Look no further than the staff ace for an explanation.

"Johnny Damon is, without a doubt, as important as any one of us on the team," Martinez says. "He's the battery, the heart of the team so far."

The gift of speed

What separates Damon from the pack in the Red Sox lineup is his speed. He usually hits leadoff unless a lefty starts against the Sox, then he moves down a spot to make room for another pretty decent leadoff hitter, Rickey Henderson. Try naming a great leadoff hitter for the Red Sox before those two. Keep trying. OK, you can stop: You're wasting your time.

Manufacturing runs is not a new concept to baseball. But as far as the Red Sox are concerned, pushing the speed button is akin to allowing them to use aluminum bats. The team leader in steals the past two years was Everett, with nine and 11. The last time a Red Sox player finished in the top three in stolen bases was in 1994, when Otis Nixon stole 42. Since Tommy Harper's franchise-record 54 stolen bases in 1973 helped the Sox finish third in the American League in steals, the club has placed last or next to last in stolen bases 17 times in 29 seasons.

Damon is on a pace to steal about 40 bases, so he will not break Harper's record, but he should come close to matching the club total of 46 last year.

Harper, now the first base and baserunning coach for the Red Sox, says, "He's so much better than we've ever had here, as far as I'm concerned. Johnny is capable of getting on-base and then he can do things after he gets there.

"He changes the dynamics of the Boston Red Sox, the way people have to defend the Boston Red Sox right now. Right away, before the game even starts, we've got people thinking about different things."

Just as Damon can disrupt the rhythm and results of opposing starters with his offense, his presence in center field is a soothing gift for Red Sox pitchers. The only thing that separates Damon from the elite center fielders is a below-averaging throwing arm. He reads the ball off the bat well, meaning his first step is sure, and he has the speed to meet it. He has made his share of sliding basket catches in shallow center, and he also has crashed into outfield walls. (One crash in Tampa Bay last month resulted in a lingering right knee problem, one that Damon insists will not need to be addressed until after the season.) He carried an errorless streak of 224 games into August, best among outfielders in the majors. He also has helped cover up for Ramirez's lack of range in left.

"The element of speed is the biggest thing I bring to the game," says Damon. "I can track down fly balls and I can cause havoc to a defense, so speed plays a big part. If Barry Bonds wasn't a fast runner, we wouldn't consider him the best player. It's definitely a gift from God."

An ideal fit

Royals general manager Allard Baird was scouting for the Royals in the spring of 1992 when he and dozens of other scouts watched Damon play the first game of his senior season for Dr. Phillips High School in Orlando. Baird wound up drafting Damon that June with a sandwich pick between the first and second rounds, then witnessed his rapid rise through the minors. By the middle of the 2000 season, Damon had outpriced himself from the small-market Royals, and they traded him to the A's during the offseason.

What Baird saw a decade ago in the durable Damon, who has not played fewer than 145 games in his six full seasons, has not changed. "Basically, you just wind him up and send him out there," Baird says. "He's so durable and he plays so hard. Even when he's struggling with his timing at the plate, he has great offensive instincts to fall back on. He can still get on base and create runs."

Relentlessly optimistic, Damon has overcome a childhood stuttering condition to become one of the Red Sox's spokesmen and leaders. With a young family in Orlando, Damon wanted to sign with an East Coast team and move closer to a championship. The fit with the Red Sox has been perfect, and Damon was by far the smartest free-agent acquisition made by former G.M. Dan Duquette. Just weigh Damon's four-year, $31 million contract against the 10-year, $160 million deal Ramirez signed.

"The decision to come here was a no-brainer," says Damon, who made the All-Star team for the first time. "I think I mean a lot to this team, especially with my hustle. A lot of guys hustle in this game and a lot of guys have hustled before me, but I take pride knowing that I hustle day in and day out."

In Boston, they hope that drive and the speed that accompanies it is enough for the Red Sox to catch the Yankees.

Quick study

A major league scout breaks down Johnny Damon:

At the plate: He has developed into a patient hitter with good pitch recognition and good plate discipline. He's not easily fooled by 0-2 breaking balls in the dirt, and he doesn't overreact and chase high fastballs out of the zone. I know he can bunt. He's not a power guy and he doesn't want to be, to his credit.

In the field: If he had a strong arm, he'd be a premier center fielder. With his outstanding speed, he can outrun the ball. He's not gifted with a strong arm, but that is not a minus to his play because of the things he does to compensate for it. When ground balls are hit to him, he knows how to set up, and if he gets his momentum right, it allows his below-average arm to be average. He charges balls like a good infielder and has a very, very quick first step.

Bottom line: He's a hell of an athlete and a real professional. Well-disciplined. His dad's an old Navy guy who told me he's proud of him--M.S.

Michael Silverman covers the Red Sox for the Boston Herald and THE SPORTING NEWS.

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