Buster is supposed to announce his retirement from baseball tomorrow. What fortunate fans we were to watch his entire career!
You can click on the image to em-biggen.
The San Francisco Giants enjoyed their greatest successes when Buster Posey strapped on the "tools of ignorance" and led the team for over a decade from the backstop position. I can't complain about a single thing associated with Buster. He was the ideal baseball player and he will be greatly missed.
And he goes out on top with the 2021 NL West champs!
Aloha, Buster.
--M.C.
26 comments:
A couple of comments and maybe more to come. About the issue of Posey being a shoe in for the hall of fame: At this point I am not so sure. He has the stats, but not the longevity. The lack of longevity definitely affected Will Clarks, and Don Mattinly's bid into the Hall, while Kirby Puckett, Roy Campanella, and Thurmon Munson were exceptions. But none of them opted out on their own accord. The second issue for fans moving forward, is how will this affect free agent pitchers' willingness to sign with the giants? In a discussion group last year about Posey and the Hall of Fame I said he needed this year plus about 3 more solid years to be guaranteed. During this era he may fade and Molina's long career may make Posey's seem a little short. I guess it will depend on the voters.
Buster is doing something few athletes do and that is leaving on his own terms. I'll miss him and the Giants will certainly miss him but I really commend him for charting his own course.
The Hall of Fame vote is kind of like the Homecoming Queen vote. Sometimes the girl who deserves it gets it, and sometimes the girl who gets it doesn't deserve it. It's an inexact standard applied haphazardly. Buster will always be Buster, HoF or not.
Future manager?
For me not see Will Clark, Jeff Kent, Barry Bonds, and possibly Buster Posey in the hall of fame, in the long run is a negative for giants fans. Maybe Busters positivity will eke him over the top, but outside of SF I am not sure the writers will be so gung ho. On the bright side, this frees up a bunch of cash for free agent signings. It looks unless there is some activity in the off season that Bart and Casali will be our backstops. I expect in the near future to be a statue outside of Oracle Park, honoring Buster's tenure with the giants.
I believe it's time to reassess how catchers are evaluated, as they are different from other position players.
Calling the game is a vastly underrated skill (C ERA!). Constantly adjusting to floating strike zones, blocking pitches, framing, backing up 1B on grounders.
All while being battered by foul tips and squatting 150+times per game.
Then having the legs to hit?
What a privilege to have watched Mr Posey do it all.
I don't know how Yadier Molina keeps playing! That guy must be super-human. Catching is clearly the toughest spot on the field.
Buster was indeed a privilege to watch.
My personal favorite Buster moments: When he and Bumgarner were still with the San Jose Giants I went to a game there. These were two most hyped prospects I can remember. Madbum didn't pitch that day and Buster was the DH. Somewhere in the middle innings he hit a high ball to left center. It kept going and going then It Was Outta Here. Quite impressive. The other time was at my one and only game at the new ballpark in San Diego. I was very lucky. Lincecum pitched. Buster hit a long one down the right field line. If it was fair it was gone. I had a crap view of that corner. I heard the crowd cheer and thought, "Oh shit it was foul," but I had underestimated the number of Giants fans in the crowd. It was also outta here.
I'm excited for Joey Bart. He gets a real opportunity with the Giants this coming season.
I hope the fans and writers will give him a chance to be Joey Bart and not burden him with expectations of Buster Posey II.
Gabe Kapler got a chance to prove himself and got to grow out of the "Bruce Bochy's replacement" label. You don't REPLACE franchise icons, you move on with new people. Let's hope the team and its fan base can move on with Joey B and whoever else plays that spot.
Hoping that Bart will be an all star.
It will interesting to see where Buster goes from here. Everyone has always assumed that he would become a (great) Manager, because he seems ideally suited to that. But, as he demonstrated again yesterday, he is not comfortable at all sitting in front of microphones, & managing in MLB involves so much of that on a daily basis. Will he Coach in MLB? Will he be content being a Minor League Manager for a long time? Or, will he remain tired of the daily grind, & just continue in some advisory capacity for the Giants forever? I get the impression that he is being characteristically honest, & that the immediate future involves way more time at Home.
Yeah I think he has the makeup to be a great manager but not the desire. I suspect he will be Dad for the next decade at least and not make any major commitments.
I wonder if he will still do ads for Toyota? He and his wife have done ads together, I wouldn't be surprised if the kids get involved, too. Maybe Toyota will do a special Posey Edition of their Sienna minivan. They have a version that seats 8 so it would be perfect for the Poseys and their four kids.
I remember saying years ago that he would be a Senator some day. He's handsome, gentlemanly, articulate, thoughtful, etc. And he's famous and has a great name. I've no idea if he has political ambitions but he'd probably be a hell of a lot better Senator than that jackass Jim Bunning.
Buster is into accomplishing things, so that would rule out the Senate(!). Mayor or Governor would be more likely, if he were really interested in Politics. But, again, Politics involves a lot of public speaking.
Full-Time Dad, it is, then!
Here are his remarks in full if you didn't get to see the video.
politics means time away from family. Posey said his order of priorities are faith number one and family number 2.
Posey is a former giant. A giant great. He needs his number retired at some point and possible a statue outside of oracle park. Unless he comes back to coach, or manage or have some position with the giants, what he does with his life is his business. I follow him as a baseball player. As I live in Fla. I followed his baseball at FSU and in the minors and majors. His personal life and his life outside of baseball is his.
Absolutely. I feel that way about everyone whether they are rich or poor, celebrity or nobody, etc.
Buster is just such an appealing character, and you know he's an ambitious, competitive guy, it's not hard to imagine him taking a stab at something beyond baseball. He's one baseball player non-fans know and recognize.
I hope he plays Dad for the rest of his days, but it's always interesting when someone that accomplished hangs it up when they are still young. Good for him--he's still got his health! A lot of guys stay too long and really wear themselves out and it shows up later.
Such an interesting sensation for me, being really sad about losing Buster and at the same time being really happy about all that amazing baseball we got to experience. And happy for him, that he's smart enough to walk away while still being an elite player.
It wasn't Timmy or Matt or MadBum or Panda or anyone else during the Greatest Era of Giants Baseball. It was Buster. He was the guy. He was the actual fucking Face of Baseball!! Genuine MLB-certified!!
And from all accounts he's a good person and treats people well. Everyone whoever played with him or worked with him loves the guy. You can't leave a much better legacy than that.
The Panda, 3 homers in one world series game, is gone, Madbum is gone, Timmy is gone, and Matt is gone. To me they were the collective face of the giants. Crawford too. Crawford and Belt too and Crawford is still here we will see about Belt. Cain may or may not have had some decent years remaining. Lincecum's skills seemed to have left him early. Same for Jonathan Sanchez. Bumgarner left the giants, and the Panda to some fans will always be super popular. Except for injuries, Posey was the consistent piece of the puzzle and now he is gone. Although a few injury plagued years, played havoc with his numbers. The thirty somethings today seem to put a very strong value on life-work balance. The giants reporter Maria Guardado (I think that is her name), says that the giants are looking to make some kind of a deal with Posey to keep him connected to the organization. The last full time SF player that made the HOF, that played a decent number of years was Orlando Cepeda who got in by the Veterans in 1999. There were other players who passed through the giants, that got in by the voters ie; Steve Carlton, Randy Johnson, Gary Carter. Goode Gossage, and a few others. I think they all got in by the writers. There were a few old timers who played in N.Y. that also may have gotten in after Cepeda by the Veterans Committee. But our later SF stars that have been eligible ie, Will Clark, Jeff Kent, Barry Bonds, have not gotten in. The Kent denial to me is perplexing. He has the longevity, he has the stats for his position, and for those writers who use the best 7 year rule, he has that too. Clark, like Posey seemed to have great admiration from the writers. Was it because he was a first baseman, or because of the lack of Longevity? Clark also left for family reasons. The last major giants player to get in the Hall by the writers had to be either McCovey or Marichal. Not sure if the writers from other markets will see Posey with the very bright light that giants' fans and writers see him. Their lenses may be filtered differently.
The vote is done by writers (except the veterans committee) and so it is subject to their biases. There's no real criteria, unfortunately, thus their whims prevail.
Dusty Baker gets a one-year extension from Houston.
Not a lot of long-term security in a manager's chair. Another reason for Buster to stay home and be a family man!
Dusty is no Spring chicken. He may not want a long term contract at this time in his life.
Matt Cain put it best, "Buster is the 'primary' reason that San Francisco won 3 World Series."
Giants extend qualifying offer to Belt. Belt has until Nov. 17, 2021 to make a decision.
Good. I hope he takes it.
BCraw gets a Gold Glove. Gee, you think he deserved it?
As far as I know, the only 2010 WS Champion Giants still active in MLB is Sergio Romo, although I'm not sure that Sandoval has actually officially retired. From 2012, just Belt & Crawford on the Giants + Bumgarner, Romo, & 2 others ... the challenge for you all: guess who those other 2 are (one should be pretty easy).
petit may still be active he was in 2021, maybe Culberson? Not sure about that one.
You got them ... Petit & Culberson!
Post a Comment