BOSTON - It didn't take long at all for the topic to arise Sunday. Informed that a New York sports reporter occupied his back seat, in town for the first Yankees-Red Sox get-together of 2006, a local cab driver offered a glimpse into this city's psyche.

“Here's your headline for tomorrow: Damon -- Up,” the cabbie said. “He's going to -- up tomorrow. I guarantee it.”

Yes, don't think for an instant that Boston will be caught off guard Monday night, when Johnny Damon returns to Fenway Park wearing the road grays of the dreaded New York Yankees, weather permitting (rain is forecast).

But the center fielder might be heartened to know that not everyone up here hates his Idiotic guts. A cursory sweep of the city Sunday turned up more Damon sympathizers than Damon haters.

“From an economic perspective, you can't fault the guy,” said Garth Glissman, a Salisbury, Conn., resident up in town for the day.

“It's his last big contract. You listen to the interviews; he did everything he could to stay in Boston. At the end of the day, the Yankees were offering more money. You've got to go where the money is.”

Said Justin Levine, who works at The Souvenir Store, across the street from Fenway Park: “He played hard here for four years. And his going there is kind of cool. It makes the rivalry even better.”

Even Jeremy Feldman, who wore a “New York Chokers” T-shirt Sunday - with two hands clutching the Yankees' interlocking NY logo - saw the bright side. Said Feldman, who works at the popular Cask 'n Flagon next to Fenway: “The way I look at it is, if we've got a guy on first, and somebody hits it into center, we're going to score.”

Whether that survey translates into some cheers Monday night, when the heartthrob-turned-traitor steps up for the game's first at-bat, might be an optimistic forecast. For while the pro-Damon folk seem to see the player's side of things from an intellectual standpoint, the other side carries more emotion.

“I hate him,” Samantha Cobblestone, a Wellesley native, said, adding that Damon left Boston “because of the money. It was unnecessary. Greed, basically. And he said he would never go to the Yankees.”

At Out of Left Field, a baseball store in tourist-friendly Faneuil Hall, two T-shirts are Damon-specific and are selling extremely well, according to sales associate Latarshia Ellison. One reads, “Hey! New York, Your Village Has Our Idiot.” The other sports a drawing of Damon, his head shaved, and reads, “Johnny the Yankee. Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow.”

And those figure to rank among the more polite options. The Web site chowdaheadz.com offers a T-shirt showing a bright red Damon, with his old beard, long hair - and devils' horns. “He $old his $oul,” the shirt declares, followed by “Johnny Demon.”

“I hope our fans treat him with a lot of respect and show him appreciation for all of the good things he did here,” said Boston general manager Theo Epstein, who grew up as a member of Red Sox Nation. “But once you switch sides in the rivalry, it opens up a lot of feelings. He was a great soldier, and he went to the post all of the time. He played with a lot of courage, lot of heart, and that doesn't go away because he signed with the Yankees.

“But at the same time, our fans want to see us win.”

The neighborhood around Fenway was quiet Sunday, as the Red Sox wrapped up a road trip in Florida and only a smattering of people went to the area sports bars and memorabilia stores. On a perfect spring afternoon, far more people opted to sunbathe in Boston Common, or shop at Quincy Market.

Many minds, however, were already preparing for Damon's return. Monday night, those at Fenway vote with their voices. And Damon, himself, gets to write the final headlines.