Keeping Up With Buster Posey

By Jim Joanos

There are a lot of things to enjoy about Florida State University baseball. Part of the fun is watching a number of the young players develop their skills at FSU and then go on to play professional baseball. It is a special treat when they become very successful and make it to baseball's major leagues. Some have even become stars at that lofty level. Such has been the case with former Seminoles Dick Howser, Woody Woodward, Terry Kennedy, Jody Reed, and J.D. Drew, to name but a few. Nowadays, we have another of those special treats in being able to follow the career of Buster Posey.

Buster Posey

Posey's baseball development is a most interesting and unusual story. In the little town of Leesburg, just north of Albany, Georgia, he was an excellent high school shortstop who also pitched. In 2004, he was a member of the USA Junior Olympic team and started two games as a pitcher at the 2004 IBAF World Championships. He was good enough to be named Georgia's Gatorade Player of the Year in his senior year denoting him as the best Georgia high school player that season according to the award's selection committee. Out of high school he was drafted by the California Angels in 2005 but not until the 50th round. It would be interesting to know who the 49 guys were that the Angels drafted ahead of him. Fortunately for FSU he turned down California's invitation and chose instead to play for the Seminoles.

As a shortstop for FSU in his freshman year, he was outstanding. He started all 65 games, was second on the team in hitting with a .346 average and was proclaimed a Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American at the end of the season.

As FSU prepared for the 2007 season, Assistant Coach Mike Martin, Jr., who had been a catcher for FSU as an undergraduate, saw something in Posey's skills that caused him to ask Posey to try playing catcher. It was a perfect fit. Almost immediately, Posey became one of the best catchers in college baseball. His batting improved to .382 and at the end of the year he was not only on the All ACC team but was a first team All-American by Collegiate Baseball. He also became the first college sophomore ever to be a finalist for the Johnny Bench Catcher's Award.

There was no slowing down for Posey in the 2008 season. In his junior year, as team Captain, he batted .463, caught, was the team pitching closer, and led the team to the College World Series. When the dust had settled he had won about every award that can be given to a college player as the 2008 consensus national player of the year. As such he won the Brooks Wallace Award, the Dick Howser Trophy, and the Golden Spikes Award, each of which recognizes a national player of the year as well as the Johnny Bench Award as the Best Catcher. When the baseball draft came this time, he was the San Francisco Giants' first pick (fifth overall). When he eventually signed a contract, he got a $6.2 million bonus, which at the time was the highest bonus ever paid upfront by a major league team.

In 2009, Posey's first year as a professional baseball player, he began in Class A Baseball with the San Jose Giants, but soon, in July was promoted to the Triple A Fresno Grizzlies and then in September was called up to the majors when the Giants' regular catcher was injured. Posey made his major league debut on September 11, 2009.

In 2010, he started the season back in Triple A with Fresno, but on May 29, 2010, he was back with the Giants' major league team. He started out primarily as a first baseman and backup catcher but when the regular first baseman was traded away in late June, Posey became the starting catcher for the Giants. What happened after that is most remarkable.

With Posey leading the way, both at bat where he batted .305 and hit 18 home runs during the regular season, and as the catcher controlling the pitchers the Giants won their division. They went on to win the National League Championship and then became World Champs by defeating the Texas Rangers, four games to one in the World Series. At the end of it all, Posey won a plethora of awards including being named the National League Rookie of the Year. As the sixth Giant in history to win that award he joined the list that includes Willie Mays, Orlando Cepeda, Willie McCovey, Gary Matthews and John Montefusco.

As I write this, the major league teams' spring training is in progress. The word I get is that Posey has picked up where he left off and is headed for another good season. I hope that is the case because there are lots of FSU fans that will be watching and cheering for him to do so. It will be a lot of fun following Buster Posey. I hope that it will be a long ride.