Damon, honorees strike emotional chord

Cheers and tears were shared at the annual New York Baseball Writers dinner
By Phil Pepe / Special to YESNetwork.com

There were cheers at the 85th annual New York Baseball Writers dinner Sunday night, and there were tears, a lot of cheers, an ocean of tears. There were cheers for the greats of the game, past and present, for Luis Tiant and Alex Rodriguez, Denny McLain and Joba Chamberlain, Yogi Berra and Jimmy Rollins, and there were tears for the true heroes, these selfless athletes who give of their time and energy to those who have made sacrifices so that these men, these stars of the diamond, can enjoy the fruits of their labor.

The tone for this event was set early by Johnny Damon, recipient of the Joan Payson award for community service, especially his work with the Wounded Warrior Project. The New York Writers complied with Damon's request to have his award presented by Tony Odierno, who had lost his left arm in Iraq, and by the time Odierno was halfway through his introduction, there wasn't a dry eye among the more than 2,000 eyes in the house. Including Damon's.

This macho man, choked with emotion, was rendered speechless for what seemed minutes. At first the words couldn't come. Then, to support him, to empathize with him, the crowd rose to its feet as one and applauded.

Now under control, Damon delivered some heartfelt words, thanking Odierno and other wounded warriors, "for the freedom we have, to be able to have a dinner like this tonight, to be with friends and to be with baseball people."

When Damon was finished with his talk, there was another standing ovation and someone said, "I wondered how anybody was going to follow that."

The "someone" who followed Damon was McLain, the blithe spirit, who struck the perfect chord for the situation with his opening remark, an aside to Tiant.

"Looey," McLain said, "have you shrunk."

Tears turned to laughter, only temporarily, for later in the program Bobby Murcer, recovering from brain cancer, was introduced warmly and affectionately by Joe Girardi and Murcer rose from his seat to accept the Milton Richman "You Gotta Have Heart" award, and there were more tears.

"You have sustained me," Murcer told the crowd, "with your prayers and your love."

This was a baseball dinner that wasn't all about baseball. Emceed seamlessly by chapter chairman Dan Graziano of the Newark Star-Ledger who handled the chore deftly and with the proper tone of reverence and lightheartedness, the affair had it's light moments from McLain, Tiant and Willie Randolph, and it had its emotion-packed moments from Damon and Murcer.