Johnny Damon Regrets The Way Baseball Put Him 'Out To Pasture'

After 18 years and 2,490 long games, 38-year-old Johnny Damon found himself in Auburn, Alabama, waiting on a call that would never come.

A few days prior, the Cleveland Indians cut the aging Damon following the trade deadline after a dismal 2012 season; he hit .222 with just a .610 OPS, both career lows. He packed up his truck and left Cleveland, bound for his Orlando-area home with a few stops planned along the way, just in case a team called and needed him to report quickly.

Three years later, Damon is still out of baseball, a 41-year-old free agent. In a HuffPost Live interview Tuesday, Damon didn't seem too hopeful that he will get another shot to wear a major-league uniform.

He did, however, appear a little bitter about the way he went out.

"I think with everything I've done in the game, that I probably should've at least been able to get a pinch-hitting job or something," Damon told host Ricky Camilleri, "before they just threw me out to pasture."

Before 2012, Damon was the iron man of baseball. He averaged 149 games played over the 16 seasons from 1996 to 2011. He also won two World Series rings (2004 with the Red Sox and 2009 with the Yankees) and made two All-Star games before bowing out.

These days, Damon is still in the spotlight, though nowhere near baseball. He stopped by HuffPost Live on Tuesday to talk about his recent ouster from "Celebrity Apprentice" along with "Sharknado" star Ian Ziering.

A tinge of sadness — and maybe regret — stuck around in his voice when talking about how his career wrapped.

"It was tough at that time. I was jumping in my truck saying, 'Is there a city I can stop by on the way home to Florida?'" Damon said, detailing that he stopped in Louisville, Kentucky and Auburn before accepting his fate. "Spent a couple days there and said, 'No one's calling, so might as well get home.'"

Watch the full HuffPost Live conversation here.

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