Johnny Damon plays golf with Hawk Harrelson and A.J. Pierzynski

Rosenthal:

Damon played golf Monday with White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski and broadcaster Ken “Hawk” Harrelson, according to major-league sources. Pierzynski lobbied Damon to sign with the White Sox, and Damon’s wife, Michelle, would prefer him to play in a more cosmopolitan city than Detroit, multiple sources say. …

… Some with the White Sox, however, are confident that a deal with Damon could happen, and believe it might even be close. Clearly, the White Sox are discussing Damon at length internally and remain in contact with the player’s agent, Scott Boras. …

Rosenthal had a couple dueling tweets earlier

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January 22 links

– Gordon Beckham will stay at the 2nd post of the batting order.

– More on the Opening Day starter.

– Matt Thornton takes over Merkin’s mailbag.

– SoxFest news: Bobby Jenks looks good, Ozzie Guillen is a jackass, Carlos Quentin wasn’t there, J.J. Putz is recovering, A.J. Pierzynski went to Africa. From Merkin and Reifert: Reifert is taking questions for Kenny and Ozzie and former Sox greats. Kenny is proud for Bobby. The Go-Go Sox are coming back says Ozzie. Hawk likes his kindle. Juan Pierre is a heavy hitter. Gonzales and Cowley: Peavy can’t afford pants. Ozzie wants Alexei to eat Vizquel’s brain. More SoxFest here.

– Kenny on Jared Mitchell: it’ll be a “little while” till he reaches majors.

– Alexei Ramirez says Dayan Viciedo looks incredible. I hope he has lots of Cuban pride.

– J.J. Putz is looking for an intro song suggestions.

– Scot Gregor is taking questions you want him to ask at Sox Spring Training.

– Gordon Beckham and Jeff Cox were working the phones. Beltin’ Bill Melton too.

– Jon Heyman says “Andruw Jones is said to be in the best shape he’s been in for a decade.”

Ken ‘The Hawk’ Harrelson and the Exponential Growth concept

Teddy Greenstein:

“After the Red Sox traded me to Cleveland [in 1969], I held out for seven days. I told [Commissioner] Bowie Kuhn: ‘I’m not going. I was making more in the off-season [in endorsements] than my salary, and I want to be compensated.’ “I agreed to meet him, and that morning I watched ‘Sesame Street’ on TV. They were teaching kids about saving a penny a day. When I saw [Indians general manager Gabe Paul], I told him: ‘I’ll play for the minimum if you give me double a penny for every home run I hit. One cent, then two cents, then four.’ And Cleveland had a huge ballpark. He wouldn’t go for it. I hit 30 home runs. I would have made more than the entire club (an extra $5.3 million). But I did get $100,000 a year for two seasons — fourth-highest in the game.”

Maybe Hawk is a descendant of the Persian rice guy.

Will Hawk call the Red Sox equipment manager?

Deadspin: Last month, the Red Sox took young Michael Yastrzemski, grandson of Carl, in the 36th round of MLB’s First-Year Player draft. The 18-year-old outfielder committed to Vanderbilt University, although he did hint that the chance to play for his grandfather’s old team could change his mind. But since the Red Sox organization seems to have forgotten how to spell one of the most revered last names in team history, perhaps Vanderbilt’s a better fit right now. Y-A-S-T-R-Z-E-M-S-K-I.