San Francisco Giants’ Buster Posey: One of the best rookies ever
He was a Major League Baseball Rookie of the Year in 2010, was Outstanding Rookie according to Player Choice Awards in 2010, Golden Spikes Award and Johnny Bench Awards winner in 2008 and now is a master slugger and reliable catcher, who was the major part
in the Giants’ sixth World Series Championship win, which they won after 56 years.
Yes! He is a Buster Posey, the most admired rookie in the Majors, who not only proved himself with gloves but also with the great swings of his bat. Posey is the offspring of Gerald Dempsey and Traci Posey, who sent him to Lee County High school where his
career in baseball started with a boom as there he won his first ever award, the Georgia Gatorade Player of the Year.
This led Posey to a brilliant future in this game as he got admission with Florida State Seminoles where he played in the college team as a short-stop, then at the catcher’s position. His career was written as catcher, so he carried this position and won
the Johnny Bench Award, d**k Howser Trophy and Golden Spikes Award in 2008.
He was a regular catcher but he played a game against Savannah State on May 12 in 2008 in which he worked at all nine positions including a pitcher. Looking at the brilliancy Posey expressed, the San Francisco Giants drafted him in their fifth pick and offered
him a $6.2 million unmatched bonus in Major League Baseball in 2008.
Despite being nominated as the MLB draft’s best catcher, Posey had to wait for complete year to express his magical work to capture the spectators into his spell. Giants invited him to spring training in 2009, in which he impressed the management to such
an extent that they could not keep him first from their class-A San Jose Giants and then from the Triple-A Fresno Grizzlies.
Like every new player, he struggled in the start to fix his spot with the club but his hard work bore him fruit when the Giants utilised his services in 47 Minor League games. He dominated the opposition to snatch a .349 batting average. Without a doubt,
he was brought to the Major Leagues but not as a catcher, instead he was fixed on first base against the Arizona Diamondbacks on May 29, 2010 where he drove in his first run.
Looking at Posey’s quick progress and the club’s longest losing streak in the 2010 forced the Giants management to trade their veteran catcher Bengie Molina with the Texas Rangers in exchange for pitcher Chris Ray. His career as a catcher had started right
from this date but his career as a batter started the day when he launched his first ever homer off Aaron Harang of the Cincinnati Reds on June 9, 2010.
This hit proved devastating for the opposing pitchers, as he launched 18 home runs and 58 runs in 108 games in 2010. It was one of those performances, which put the Giants into their sixth World Series Championship since 1958. After this performance, Posey
was named as the MLB Rookie Player of the Year.
Recently Posey broke his fibula and tore away ligaments in his ankle due to a collision with the Florida Marlins’ Scott Cousins in an attempt to steal a base run on May 25, 2011, that added fuel to the debate whether a player of such nature should be allowed
in MLB. During a 90-minute surgery performed on May 29, two screws were inserted in his leg to stabilise his ankle.
After this collision, the Giants announced the end of his season. Until May 25, he has made 17 runs and including four home-runs in 45 games. In his two-year experience, Posey has 172-for-585 that includes his 22 home-runs in 160 games with batting average
of .294.
He could not exhibit the best of his performance this year but still he has many years to play. However, his absence from the scene will definitely have some effect on the Giants to defend their title in 2011, according to experts.
Tags: