He was an excellent catcher and a beloved team leader. It's so much easier to find that offense from other positions."īochy wrote that he didn't hit-and-run with Posey as much as he did with Tony Gwynn when he managed that late, great Hall of Famer, "but he was right up there with Tony on the hit-and-run with his ability to make contact." "It's the toughest spot to find offensive help from in the lineup, so it was a huge advantage for us. "It's just so rare to have your best hitter being your catcher," former Giants manager Bruce Bochy wrote in a text Thursday morning. For most of Posey's career, he batted third or fourth for San Francisco, with the same incredibly simple approach to hitting that he had in college: He'd mostly hit fastballs to the opposite field and pull breaking balls. In the seven years from 2012 to 2018, he averaged 165 hits and 33 doubles, while batting.
The catcher for three championship teams, in 2010, 20. An MVP in 2012, after leading the league with a. But for a period of five to seven years, he was either the best at his position (or second best, depending on how you would calculate the importance of Yadier Molina's defense at the position), and Posey checks so many boxes. His career WAR of 44.8, per Baseball Reference, is lower than that of Manny Machado or Andrew McCutchen. Posey finishes with exactly 1,500 career hits, 158 homers and 663 runs, much lower than many current Hall of Famers. In part because of that importance he places on his home life and the devastating injuries Posey has experienced in his career, he announced his retirement today, even at a time when he probably could play another two or three years and pad some of the counting stats on his résumé. The great irony was that given Posey's devotion to time with his family and his personality, he probably is the ballplayer least likely to host a podcast, ever. It was an exhausting 15 minutes, but the great payoff was telling Posey that story the next time I saw him. So I very carefully structured my questions in such a way to lead him away from referring to Buster Posey. The really, really famous star had gotten up very early to talk to Buster, and I did not want to embarrass him as he told his stories. And about one or two questions into our conversation, I realized that this really, really famous star thought he was speaking to podcast host Buster Posey, championship catcher, not Buster Olney, schlubby sportswriter. A really, really famous star - unnamed here, to protect the innocent - enthusiastically (and surprisingly) agreed to join the show. Posey is one of the best athletes of his sport, a former college shortstop converted to catcher whose Cooperstown candidacy may lead to a broader reassessment of Hall of Fame credentials for the position, and I am - well - me.Īt least until five or six years ago, when the most difficult podcast interview I've ever had happened.
Sure, there have been many times that I've been introduced on television or radio as Buster Posey - including by Scott Van Pelt on SportsCenter - but it's never gone farther than a clear misidentification. Luckily, even though we're both Busters in baseball, the facts of our jobs and lives have been different enough that we're not often confused.
(Even though this first name has been handed down in his family, I'd venture a guess that he, like I, has probably greeted more pets named Buster than people.) He doesn't show it often, but Posey has a very dry sense of humor, and so we have continued to awkwardly greet each other in that manner ever since. "Buster, how are you doing?" I responded. But the only adult human I've met with the same name as my own is Buster Posey, who called me in 2010, at the request of his agent, for a story I was working on. When you're named Buster, you meet dozens and dozens of dogs and cats that share your name. San Francisco Giants star Buster Posey could rewrite the Hall of Fame expectations for a catcher
BUSTER POSEY WIFE NAME UPGRADE
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