And so begins my tribute to a legend of his own time, Jorge Posada. If you haven't heard yet, Posada, the Yankees catcher for many years now, has officially announced his retirement from baseball. Georgie will always be remembered as a class act, a leader of the team, and a model citizen. Posada's retirement leaves just 2 members of the "Core Four" remaining (Mariano Rivera and Derek Jeter).
Posada's numbers speak for themselves. Posada's career WAR (wins above replacement) comes in at a 44.7, which puts him in a tie for 11th all time highest among position players on the Yankees list. When you look at the select few players ahead of him, you see the names of legends; Ruth, Gerhig, Mantle, Dimaggio, etc. Looking at just his offensive numbers, Posada's WAR is 9th on the Yankees all time list. 8th most games played in Yankees history, 14th in the Yankees book in hits and the 7th most doubles in the history of the Pinstripers. Pretty impressive numbers, eh? JoPo could play. For the entire 2007 season, it seemed that Posada was always on second base. Not to mention, he has four rings to speak of.
Not only was JoPo one of the best players in Yankee history, he's one of the most generous. Posada's son, Jorge, Jr., was diagnosed with Craniosynostosis at birth, a serious birth defect which causes cranial pressure. In response, Posada and his wife, Laura, formed the Jorge Posada foundation to raise awareness and money for the condition. The Posada's raise a fair amount of money for this foundation, which is a great cause.
Posada's skills and off field activities will make him a fan favorite forever. His retirement has led to one pivotal question: is Po a Hall of Famer? My thought-he's gonna be close, and he'll stick around for a while. I think ultimately, he will serve his 15 years on the ballot without getting in. However, I hope I'm wrong. Such a great player and great human deserves to be enshrined forever.
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