Is he a Johnny-come-lately?

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Don't ask, because Terry Francona doesn't have time for this.

''I'm not interested," Francona said, ''in Johnny Damon-Coco Crisp comparisons. I don't think it's pertinent or fair."

It is probably neither, which is why you won't hear the Red Sox manager, general manager, or equipment manager suggest the following: Crisp is becoming Damon, only quicker than Damon did.

Crisp reported to camp yesterday, several days ahead of schedule, marking the beginning of the Year 1 A.D. (After Damon), and his persona and career ascent, juxtaposed against those of the 25 members of the 2005 Red Sox, most closely resembles . . . Damon's.

Crisp has 1,626 major league at-bats, and in that time has accomplished the following: .287 average, .332 on-base percentage, .424 slugging percentage, 35 home runs, 176 RBIs, 54 stolen bases, 29 times caught stealing.

Damon, through 1,623 major league at-bats, amassed these totals: .272 average, .326 OBP, .395 slugging, 29 homers, 157 RBIs, 65 steals, 25 times caught stealing.

Damon, in his second, third, and fourth major league seasons, steadily increased his home run totals (6 to 8 to 18), doubles (22 to 12 to 30), and OPS (.680 to .723 to .779). Crisp's home run totals have increased quicker (3 to 15 to 16), and so have his doubles (15 to 24 to 42) and OPS (.655 to .790 to .810).

Crisp reached what appears to be his cruising altitude of roughly .300-15-70 in his third season. Damon got there in his fourth year.

The equally alluring comparison is in the people, not the players. Both are loquacious, both are bemused by and responsive to media inquiries, and each is as defined by his disposition as his position.

Almost a year ago, Damon pulled into the Sox' complex here on Florida's Gulf Coast wearing a blinding gold wedding band enveloped by diamonds. Such extravagance, he contended, was necessary to provide physical and aesthetic balance, given that the World Series ring would be lighting up, and weighing down, his other hand.

Crisp yesterday wore bedazzling earrings. Each earring includes 25 tiny squares, roughly half of them white, half of them blue. He said the earrings are zirconia, claiming he doesn't wear diamonds because they decrease the value of the zirconia he owns, before acknowledging, ''They're regular diamonds with blue stuff."

Both Damon and Crisp are quiet in voice and in nature. Both can play the hands-stuffed-in-the-pockets guy. But both also can diffuse the most serious baseball questions with a Roberto Benigni smile, a calm cadence, and a well-placed joke.

Crisp, for instance, was asked yesterday about his new spot atop the Sox' lineup and the accompanying need to get on base and run intelligently. A reporter pointed toward the clubhouse and informed Crisp that the occupants of the room don't steal too often.

''It's a good thing," Crisp said, his face serious and steady, ''because I didn't bring a lock."

He can be asked a tough question and answer it with humor and honesty. He was told that his stolen-base ratio isn't stellar, somewhere in the 50/50 range.

''I think I'm better than 50/50," he said, and he was correct, as he's swiped 54 of 83, a 65 percent success rate. ''I'm closer to 70/30. That's like [comparing] Shaquille O'Neal's free throw shooting vs. Carmelo Anthony.

''I feel I can steal 40, 50 bases easy if I was allowed to. A lot of times I got thrown out it was hit-and-runs where you've got to wait on the pitcher. It kind of messes up your statistics. If they have a similar plan over here, that's what I'll do."

But, he said with conviction, ''If they just let me run, I think I'm one of the fastest guys out here."

He said that a couple of years ago. Using a timer synched to starting blocks on a track, he ran the 40-yard dash in 4.23 seconds and the 60-yard dash in 6.27.

He's still learning the art of base stealing, evident in his nine caught stealings in 2003 and 13 in 2004. He's still learning how to hit leadoff, but claims he won't alter his approach, even though the Sox would prefer he walk more than the 44 times he did last year with the Indians.

''I'll take my same approach," he said. ''See the ball, hit the ball. If there's something I think I can hit, I swing at it. My approach is very simple."

Both Damon and Crisp enjoy the game for its more visceral beauty. Damon prided himself on running into walls and breaking bats for hits. Crisp said he'll run into a few walls himself. He'll also curry favor for being among the small minority of major league players who don't wear batting gloves.

''I can't feel with the gloves," he said. ''If that were the case, I believe God would make you with gloves."

He doesn't use pine tar, either.

''Too sticky," he said. ''Usually, you get that on your gloves, but on bare hands you don't want them too sticky."

(Someone had better tell him not to touch Trot Nixon.)

But that's for a later conversation. Yesterday, Crisp was simply attempting to figure out who is who.

''I'm going to go home and look on the Internet," he said. ''Look at the Boston Red Sox website and look at everybody's faces and come back and know everybody."

His face, kind and mischievous, appears unforgettable, kind of like somebody else's.

''To be honest," Crisp said, ''I don't even know Johnny Damon. I hear he was a good person, the whole rock thing. He was a good ballplayer. Myself, I'm a good person. I don't rock out. At the same time, I like to have fun, too. Clown around with the fans. Just be myself."