Buster Posey became the Giants full-time catcher in 2010 and the team went on to claim the world championship. Buster was hurt in 2011, missed most of the season, and the Giants finished in second place. Buster was back on the field and in the lineup full-time in 2012 and the Giants won the World Series. Not much more than that needs to be said about Mr. Posey. That's what you call right there "empirical evidence." The guy is a winner. Oh, and he will likely be the NL MVP, too. I've written before about his remarkable sangfroid, particularly his relaxed ease in front of the microphone. The only other player I can remember being such a natural both between the lines and on camera is Derek Jeter. The Yankee captain always manages to look good in his uniform and to say the right things when the tapes are rolling. Posey has that same quality--he expects to be among the elites of the game and he accepts with good grace his role as leader and spokesman of the club. It's a special combination of talent, hard work, and character. When you look up "intangibles" in the Big Book of Baseball, you'll see a picture of those two lads. By the way, here are the four guys drafted ahead of Gerald Dempsey III: Tim Beckham, Pedro Alvarez, Eric Hosmer, and Brian Matusz. Way to go, Giants!
Buster only had nine hits in his 68 plate appearances, but three of them were homers. The first one was in the 6th inning of Game One of the LDS and it was the first run scored by the Giants in the post-season. The second was an epic, series-clinching blast, a massive grand slam off Mat Latos that crushed the Reds dreams in Game Five. It was one of the signature moments of the entire playoffs. The last one was in the final contest, Game Four in Detroit. The Tigers, down three games to none, finally showed some life when their Triple Crown slugger Miguel Cabrera poked a wind-aided ball over the RF fence to take a 2-1 lead in the 3rd inning. But with one out in the top of the 6th and Marco Scutaro (who else?) on first, Buster smacked an errant changeup from Max Scherzer down the LF line just inside the pole to regain the lead and the momentum. It was as clutch a hit as you will find in the history of the organization, and so typically, totally Posey. Oh, and Matt Cain was the starting pitcher in each one of those games. If Tim Lincecum is The Franchise, then that dynamic duo must be The Pillars of Creation.
It's a great time to be a Giants fan.
--M.C.
7 comments:
I just passed Larry Baer coming out of the Pete's Coffee in SF Civic Center! I nodded and said, "Mr. Baer." He said, "How you doing?" probably in acknowledgement of my business attire which includes a Giants cap.
Not Buster Posey, but still....
A 'Brush w/ Greatness'!!!!!
You could have taken the opportunity to encourage him to re-sign Angel Pagan at a high, but not ridiculous, salary. For me, that is Off-Season Priority #1.
#2 is Affeldt.
#3 is Scutaro.
Meanwhile, this is entertaining - after the 15-second 7-Eleven commercial:
http://www.theonion.com/video/after-obama-victory-shrieking-whitehot-sphere-of-p,30284/
Pagan will command "ridiculous" money. And the Giants have proven that "ridiculous" money (Rowand, Zito) is no obstacle to winning.
Cool that you ran into LarryB. I was squeezing out of MoMo's one day and brushed past Peter Magowan. I was out the door before I had the presence of mind to say "you rock, dawg."
So, Mark, are you saying that the Giants will pay Pagan ridiculous money? I'm not convinced that they will. He's 31 years old, so they will be unlikely to want to go anywhere past a 3-year deal. The annual salary is probably not the biggest issue - as usual, it's the number of years.
That is a real factor in the Scutaro situation. As wonderful as he was for us, both late season & post-season, he is Marco Scutaro, he's 37 years old, & there is a substantial body of work upon which to base an offer. The guy we saw in August through October is a different guy from the very good, but unspectacular, player he has been for several years. I am afraid that this will end up like the Juan Uribe thing - we won't want to give more than 2 years, & Scutaro will want more & find teams willing to offer him more. (Of course, in the Uribe case, it turned out that he sucked in both of his 1st & 2nd years with LA anyway.) We also have F. Sanchez supposedly coming back at the same position, but also a free agent. It's a tough call. I would like them to offer Scutaro 2 lucrative years & see what happens.
Next question: just what do we do with Brian Wilson, who is an arbitration case? Can you justify a big contract for a double Tommy John survivor? Do we really need Brian Wilson? I think that we do, but, again, this is going to be a really tough call.
Then there's today's noise about Brandon Belt & people making trade offers to the Giants about him. I don't think that the Giants should consider trading Belt for 5 seconds. Ever since he started standing up taller at the plate, he is finally showing signs of developing into the player the Giants always hoped that he would. It is premature for the Giants to think of Posey as the '1B of the future' - that may never really be the case, as long as Buster reels off some of those classic throws & other assorted gems & as long as he is the #1 pitching staff handler in all of baseball. Belt should now be considered a relatively untouchable player - he is part of the scheme for sure now.
It's a great time to be a giant's fan.
Sign Posey, the rest of the offseason is just noise...
and Sabean has the occasional blunder but he has killed the big ticket items.
I'm saying that Pagan is now a desirable FA. That's it. Some one is going to offer him "silly" money. Hey, more power to him, he had a great year and has earned it. If it is the Giants "over"-paying , so fucking what? They can afford it. As we know, Affeldt is actually more important. Blanco can play CF a hell of a lot cheaper, if you really want to get down to it. LFers are a dime a dozen.
Where is the "noise" about Belt? He isn't going anywhere. Giants aren't looking to get rid of him. Like JT Snow, he has a great glove, and the Giants have a thing for a good glove at 1B. Belt will be a mainstay of the 2013---etc. Giants.
Post a Comment