According to Jesse Rogers of ESPN on Thursday, San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey of Leesburg, GA has retired at the age of 34. Posey spent 12 seasons with the Giants from 2009 to 2019, and again for the 2021 Major League Baseball season. He opted out of the 2020 season citing coronavirus concerns.
Posey batted .302 in 1371 Major League regular season games. In that time he had 158 home runs and 729 runs batted in. He also scored 663 runs, and had 1500 hits, 293 doubles, nine triples, 540 walks, a .372 on base percentage, .460 slugging percentage, 2285 total bases, 43 times hit by a pitch, one sacrifice hit, and 53 sacrifice flies. Posey had his lone sacrifice bunt in a 6-4 Giants loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates on September 9, 2019.
This past season, Posey batted .304 with 18 home runs and 56 runs batted in. The fact that he decided to retire could come as a surprise to some, because Posey was still playing baseball at a very high level. He also scored 68 runs, and had 120 hits, 23 doubles, 56 walks, an on base percentage of .390, slugging percentage of .499, 197 total bases, and two sacrifice flies.
In 2010, Posey was named the National League Rookie of the Year. He was the sixth Giants player to receive the honour. Posey followed Willie Mays (1951), Orlando Cepeda (1958), Willie McCovey (1959), Gary Matthews (1973), and John Montefusco (1975). That year he batted .305 with 18 home runs and 67 runs batted in.
In 2012, Posey was an All-Star for this time. He went on to represent the National League at six more All-Star games. In 2012, Posey was named the National League Most Valuable Player. He led Major League Baseball with a .336 batting average and the National League with nine sacrifice flies. Posey also had 24 home runs and 103 runs batted in.
In the postseason where Posey shined as well. He was part of three Giants teams that won the World Series in 2010, 2012 and 2014. Posey batted .252 with five home runs and 25 runs batted in during 226 at bats.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
