Amelia Parreira
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Amelia Parreira is a journalism junior and Mustang News sports columnist. These views do not necessarily reflect the editorial coverage of Mustang News.
It’s the final moment of the World Series. The crowd grows completely silent, fingers crossed and eyes clenched shut. The Giants are just a strike away from the national title.
Finally, a fastball makes its way past the bat and into catcher Buster Posey’s glove, ending the series and sending the entire Giants fanbase into a joyful outburst. With this, Posey rushes over to the mound with a smile plastered across his face and embraces the pitcher with a big bear hug.
I have witnessed this three times in the past five years, and each time I realize it’s moments like these that simply make me love Posey.
And now here he is today as the new “Face of MLB,” announced last month after fan votes were tallied.
While there are many major league players who deserve the title, Posey deserves it the most.
ESPN reporters have even said that Posey is the new Derek Jeter. However, to me, he is better than that. While Jeter is known as an overconfident “ladies man,” Posey is a much more down-to-earth, happily married father of two, which shows his sense of responsibility and selflessness. I don’t know about you, but that earns him extra points in my book.
Posey is also someone not only fans look up to, but someone fellow players admire as well. A recent article on the Giants website tells about how 24-year-old catcher Andrew Susac looks up to Posey as a role model both on and off the field. Despite the minimal playing time he got in previous seasons, Susac loves being a part of the team for the mere fact of being alongside such a great mentor.
Of course, Posey has much more to show than just his personal aspects. He wouldn’t have made it this far in his baseball career if it weren’t for his incredible playing abilities.
Posey has not only found success as a Giant, though. After his last season playing ball for Florida State, he was named the 18th-best prospect for the major league, while he had also previously been named an AFLAC All-American. Along with that, he received multiple awards, including the 2008 Golden Spikes award.
This was only the beginning for Posey.
After signing with the San Francisco Giants in 2009, Posey was a fireball both at bat and behind the plate, earning the title of AFL Rising Star and then Rookie of the Year one year later.
Posey would then move on to play in two All-Star games, win an MVP award, receive the honor of a Hank Aaron award and so much more.
After a painful 2012 collision at home plate left Posey with torn ankle ligaments and a broken leg, many were left unsure that Posey’s successful career could continue with ease. However, with a lot of hard work, patience and perseverance, the young catcher pulled through and became better than ever. Later, he would be named the 2012 Comeback Player of the Year.
He achieved all of these amazing accomplishments before the age of 27 (and not to mention without the use of performance enhancing substances), which makes it all even more breathtaking.
I could go on for hours, but I think I’ve made my point.
Congrats, Posey!
So Derek Jeter is not responsible nor selfless because he is not married? Ahhhh this article pisses me off and I cannot tell if you are actually this ignorant or if you write like this just to get a rise. Is Buster Posey and excellent player? Sure. Did he deserve Face of MLB. Fine. But to bring Derek Jeter into this is foolish. To say that Posey is better than being ‘the new Derek Jeter’ is a very bold thing to say, and you clearly do not know what Derek Jeter meant to the game baseball. Outside of California, Buster Posey is not a sensation. Children across the country are not being drawn to love the game of baseball because of him. But if you look at all the players in MLB baseball today, you’ll find that so many of them grew up admiring Derek Jeter as an incredible player and as a role model, and will name him as one of their inspirations for wanting to play the game on a major league level. There are very few players throughout history that have this resounding effect, and Jeter was one of them. As captain of the NEW YORK Yankees, you’d be hard pressed to find someone that the Daily News would like to write shitty article about more than Derek Jeter. For nearly 20 years, Derek Jeter was able to play as arguably the most famous player in baseball, in NY nonetheless, and avoid being puppy of the media. No scandals, no media drama, no nothing. If that doesn’t show a player of integrity, I don’t know what does. You are also forgetting to mention the incredible charity work that Derek Jeter has done and continues to do, just look into his Turn2 Foundation. Also, just to clarify, saying Posey is better than Jeter and than citing one of the reasons as the lack of PIDs is incredibly banal of you. Not only will you never know the truth about a player taking PEDS, but there is nobody less likely of taking PEDS than Derek Jeter (ARRGGGGHHH the stupidity is killing me!). And to shit on Jeter being a bachelor is just idiotic. Is it not obvious that Jeter dedicated 20 years of his life to playing baseball. He was literally so passionate about the game that he did not have time for a family. You clearly hate this idea, but just for one second try to appreciate that a man dedicated to what he loves can be an excellent role model, with or without a family, which he might not have wanted to put under the pressure of his job and the intense media limelight. To finish, I’m not here to argue that Jeter was a better player than Posey (though I definitely think so), but you should not be so quick to let your ignorance overcome you.
How did you witness Posey catching strike 3 to end the world series when Pablo Sandoval made the final out. If you aren’t going to watch the games at least do a little research.