Johnny Damon sat on a leather couch at a midtown Manhattan car dealership recently and took a deep breath, admittedly relieved that his whirlwind schedule was slowing down. With spring training closing in, baseball finally is beckoning.

A little more than a week remains before Damon reports for his first day in pinstripes. He not only finds himself at peace with his decision to cross enemy lines and sign with the Yankees, but he's genuinely intrigued.
Spring training always is a time to dream, and Damon has been doing his share. During a recent interview with Newsday, he spoke openly about his grand visions and hopes, making it clear a day doesn't pass without him thinking about what's ahead.

"It feels like it's really close," Damon said, his eyes widening with excitement. "My body is getting ready for what's going to be a very, very, very great season."

Even with pitchers and catchers reporting this week, with the official start of baseball's calendar year just days away, the thought of Damon wearing pinstripes while manning centerfield and listening to the bleacher fans chant his name still seems odd.

His four years in Boston will forever be remembered for his tight bond with Red Sox fans, and he hopes the same dynamic takes place in New York, beginning right away. He thinks all the fits he's given the Yankees over the years will work in his favor.

"Playing in front of the same fans who I broke their hearts a couple of seasons ago and seeing their reaction, I can't wait, because it's always going to be a part of the history of baseball," said Damon, who signed a four-year, $52-million contract with the Yankees. "That's always going to be a great moment in my career."

Damon obviously is comfortable enough to speak about the 2004 postseason, arguably the lowest point in Yankees postseason history. En route to their first world championship in 86 years, the Red Sox became the first baseball team ever to erase a 3-0 deficit in games in a postseason series, pummeling the Yankees, 10-3, in ALCS Game 7 behind Damon's two homers and six RBIs.

Damon's grand slam off Javier Vazquez with one out in the second inning of Game 7 was the most crushing blow to the Yankees, the moment when Red Sox Nation began taking over the Bronx. He added a two-run homer off Vazquez in the fourth, again on the first pitch he saw in the at-bat.

"They know what I'm capable of doing," he said, smiling.

The Yankees won't get much of a firsthand look at Damon on their side during spring training; he remains committed to playing for the United States in the World Baseball Classic. But after seeing him so much in recent years, they know what they're getting.

It was the Yankees who sold Damon on coming to their side during the recruiting process, not the other way around. Joe Torre and Derek Jeter called him, as did Jason Giambi, who recently said Damon had a lot of questions about life as a Yankee.

"It was more just information for him. 'What was it like? How are the guys?'" Giambi said. "The same situation I had leaving Oakland. They had a pretty good bond in Boston with those guys. From where he started to where they ended, winning the World Series. He was just a little nervous ... I said you can join the rest of us and be hated in Boston."

But from what Damon has experienced thus far, Red Sox fans agree with his assertion that the Red Sox disrespected him this winter, essentially daring him to leave.

"The reaction on the street has been overwhelming, and it hasn't been just the Yankee fans," Damon said. "It's been Boston fans, too. They're happy with what I gave them, and the Yankees fans, they're happy I'm not in Boston anymore."

Damon, however, still marvels when he thinks about batting leadoff for a lineup with so much star power, calling it "an honor." He called Jeter "the smartest player in the game," Alex Rodriguez "maybe the greatest player of all time" and Gary Sheffield "a guy who knows how to win." And then there's Hideki Matsui, Giambi and so on...

Damon shook his head in amazement. It's easy to sense his excitement going forward. And he's made it no secret that he can't wait for the real fun to begin. "Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah," he said.