From Peter Abraham’s piece in Tuesday’s Boston Globe:
Buster Posey the catch-all to success of Giants
He handled bat, and the pitchers
DETROIT — Buster Posey hugged Sergio Romo, because catchers are supposed to hug their pitchers when they win the World Series. Then he held the baseball aloft and looked for his manager, Bruce Bochy.
Posey, the 25-year-old leader of the San Francisco Giants, wanted to get the ball in responsible hands before one of his hirsute teammates wrestled it away.
Even in a moment of wild celebration on Sunday night, Posey was determined to do the right thing.
“I gave it to Boch. I’ll let him make the decision what he does with it,” Posey said on Sunday night after the Giants beat the Detroit Tigers, 4-3, in 10 innings to sweep the World Series.
Perhaps Bochy should have given the ball right back. Posey deserved some kind of award.
As Abraham points out, Posey was coming off an MVP regular season and drove in nine runs in 16 postseason games while “also [handling] a pitching staff that had a 2.88 earned run average in the postseason as the Giants won their second title in three seasons.”
And here’s the Jeter connection:
With two World Series titles in his first three full seasons in the majors, Posey is becoming the Derek Jeter of his generation. Like Jeter, Posey was the Rookie of the Year and won the Series in his first season.
Then came a second title in the third season. Jeter was 24 when the Yankees swept the Padres in 1998.
Like Jeter was — and still is — Posey is a remarkably composed player with the ability to bring together a clubhouse full of diverse characters. Jeter leads from shortstop, Posey from behind the plate.
Coincidentally, from Tuesday’s New York Times:
Buster Posey, the Champions’ Champion
Buster Posey has played two healthy seasons in the major leagues. Both ended with him squeezing a third strike to end the World Series, then romping out to the mound to embrace his pitcher.
This is not how baseball works, especially now, with 10 teams in the playoff field. At 25 years old, Posey, the San Francisco Giants’ catcher, has won as many championships as Christy Mathewson, Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, Juan Marichal and Barry Bonds — combined. These are glory days for his franchise.
“I know guys play their whole career and don’t get to experience what I’ve experienced twice,” Posey said Sunday night, in a hallway outside the Giants’ clubhouse at Comerica Park. “And I don’t take it for granted.”
Nor do the San Francisco Giants take Posey for granted.
Posey is the cornerstone of the franchise. He is the fulcrum, the cleanup hitter for the offense and, as catcher, a leader of the pitching staff. Giants people talk about Posey the way Yankees people talk about Derek Jeter, who also won two World Series in his first three seasons. His leadership enhances his skills.
“It’s rare to have, at that age, somebody so thoughtful that everybody can rally around,” said Larry Baer, the Giants’ chief executive. “Even for somebody with big numbers, it usually takes a while for him to get the respect. But Buster Posey has grabbed this clubhouse by storm in ways that are hard to imagine for somebody that’s been in the majors three years.”
Not to mention somebody who only hit .200 in the postseason.
But Posey made his hits count. Which is exactly why he does too.
Campaign Outsider 