PAGE A8, KEIZERTIMES, FEBRUARY 5, 2021
KEIZERTIMES.COM
#1 Buster Posey
TOP 20
20
Daniel Shirey/Getty Images
For the better part of the last decade, Buster Posey has been the face of the San Francisco
Giants franchise.
BY MATT RAWLINGS
Of the Keizertimes
The top spot on the list of
the Keizertimes top 20 greatest
Volcanoes players of all time
goes to Buster Posey. As one of
the most accomplished catch-
ers of the 21st century, Posey
has won four Silver Slugger
awards and a Gold Glove to
go along with his three World
Series rings. Posey also was the
National League (NL) Rook-
ie of the Year in 2010 and the
league MVP in 2012.
Posey grew up in Georgia
and was a four-sport athlete
in high school. During his se-
nior season, he was named the
Georgia Gatorade Player of
the Year, the Louisville Slugger
State Player of the Year, an EA
Sports All-American, and a
Baseball America All-American.
Posey attended Florida
State University from 2006-
08 and was arguably the
best player in school histo-
ry. After receiving fi rst-team
All-American honors in his
sophomore season, Posey eas-
ily established himself as the
top player in the country the
following year.
In his junior season, Posey
hit .463 with 29 homers and
93 RBIs. He won the Johnny
Bench Award as the nation’s
best catcher and was named
the Collegiate Baseball Player
of the Year. He was also giv-
en the Golden Spikes award
as the country’s best amateur
player.
On May 12, 2008, Posey
played all nine fi elding posi-
tions and hit a grand slam in
a 10-0 victory over Savannah
State.
Baseball America touted
Posey as the best available
catcher in the 2008 Major
League Baseball Draft — the
San Francisco Giants selected
Posey with the fi fth overall
pick. Posey offi cially signed
with the Giants on Aug. 16,
2008 and was given a $6.2
million signing bonus —
which was the largest up-front
signing bonus in team history.
Posey only played three
games with the Volcanoes in
2008. He hit two doubles and
had a pair of RBIs. In 2009,
Posey spent the majority of
the year in Advanced Single-A
in San Jose. He batted .326
with 63 runs, 95 hits, 23 dou-
bles, 13 homers and 58 RBIs
in 80 games.
Posey was moved up to
Triple-A in Fresno later in the
year and hit .321 with 21 runs
scored, 42 hits, eight doubles,
fi ve homers and 22 RBIs in
35 games.
Due to an injury to San
Francisco catcher Bengie
Molina, Posey was called up
to join the Giants on Sept. 2,
2009. However he didn’t make
his debut until Sept. 11. Posey
was mainly used as a reserve
to conclude the San Francisco
season and only had two hits
in 17 at-bats. But the follow-
ing year, Posey showed the Gi-
ants, and the MLB world, that
he was more than prepared for
the big leagues.
Posey began the season in
Triple-A, where he proved to
be dominant over 47 games,
batting .349 with 31 runs
scored, 60 hits, 13 doubles, six
homers and 32 RBIs. On May
29, 2010, Posey was called
back up to the big leagues, and
his impact with the Giants was
immediate.
In his fi rst game of the year,
Posey went 3-for-4 with three
RBIs. He hit his fi rst homer
on June 9, 2010 off Aaron Ha-
rang of the Cincinnati Reds.
Posey mostly played fi rst base
in the fi rst two months of his
2010 tenure with the Giants,
but when Molina was traded
to the Texas Rangers on June
30, Posey became the Giants
full-time catcher.
From July 1 to July 10,
Posey batted .514 and had 19
hits and six homers, including
his fi rst career grand slam on
July 7. Posey also had 13 RBIs
during the stretch, the most
ever by a rookie during a 10-
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game span — he was named
NL Player of the Week for the
week of July 5-11.
Posey also had a 21-game
hit streak during the month
of July, falling one game short
of the Giants rookie record,
which is held by Willie Mc-
Covey. He was named NL
Player of the Month in July
2010.
Posey fi nished the season
batting .305 with 58 runs
scored, 124 hits, 23 doubles,
18 homers and 67 RBIs and
was named the NL Rookie
of the Year — he also nearly
fi nished in the top 10 for NL
MVP voting.
During the fi nal game of
the season, Posey hit a key solo
homer against the San Diego
Padres to propel the Giants to
the NL West division title.
In the NL Division Series
(NLDS), Posey batted .375 as
the Giants defeated the Atlan-
ta Braves in four games. Even
though he was inconsistent at
the plate in the NL Champi-
onship Series (NLCS), Posey
led the Giants to a key victory
against the Philadelphia Phil-
lies in game four of the series,
going 4-for-5 with a pair of
RBIs in the 6-5 victory — he
was the fi rst rookie ever to
record four hits in an NLCS
game.
In game four of the World
Series, Posey and rookie bat-
tery mate Madison Bumgar-
Volcanoes
players
of all time
ner became the fi rst rookie
starting pitcher-catcher tan-
dem in a World Series game
since 1947. In the same game,
Posey hit his fi rst postseason
homer, leading the Giants to
a 4-0 win. With the homer,
Posey became the fi fth rookie
catcher to ever hit a home run
in the playoffs.
Posey caught every inning
of the 2010 postseason, help-
ing the Giants to a World Se-
ries title after defeating the
Rangers in fi ve games.
In 2011, Posey missed the
majority of the season after
suffering a season-ending an-
kle injury on May 25. Posey
was injured on a play at the
plate by Scott Cousins of the
Florida Marlins, who collided
with Posey while attempting
to score on a sacrifi ce fl y —
Cousins admitted later that he
ran into Posey intentionally
but did not intend to injure
Posey.
In the aftermath of the
violent play, the MLB adopt-
ed rule 7.13 during in 2014
— otherwise known as the
“Buster Posey Rule.” The rule
states that “a runner attempt-
ing to score may not deviate
from his direct pathway to the
plate in order to initiate con-
tact with the catcher (or other
player covering home plate).
If, in the judgment of the
Please see POSEY, Page A9
crossword
The
Complete
Countdown
20
20. Matt Downs
19. Clay Hensley
18. Bryan Reynolds
17. Fred Lewis
16. Dan Otero
15. Matt Duffy
14. Jonathan Sanchez
13. Travis Ishikawa
12. Nate Schierholtz
11. Ryan Vogelsong
10. Adam Duvall
9. Kevin Correia
8. Joe Panik
7. Francisco Liriano
6. Sergio Romo
5. Brandon Crawford
4. Pablo Sandoval
3. Joe Nathan
2. Tim Lincecum
1. Buster Posey