Jorge Posada

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Jorge Posada bigraphy, stories - Professional baseball player

Jorge Posada : biography

August 17, 1971 –

Jorge Rafael Posada Villeta (born August 17, 1971) is a retired Puerto Rican baseball catcher who spent his entire 17-year career playing for the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball. Posada produced strong offensive numbers for his position, recording a .273 batting average, 275 home runs, and 1,065 runs batted in (RBIs) during his career. A switch hitter, Posada was a five-time All-Star, won five Silver Slugger Awards, and was on the roster for four World Series championship teams.

Drafted by the Yankees in 1990, Posada was originally an infielder before moving to catcher during his minor league career. He debuted in the major leagues in 1995, but it was not until 1998 that he found regular playing time. A solid-hitting catcher, Posada established himself as a mainstay in the Yankees lineup and as one of the "Core Four" players who contributed to the Yankees’ winning seasons. In 2003, he finished third in voting for the American League (AL) Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award and became only the second Yankees catcher after Yogi Berra to hit 30 home runs in a season. Posada added one of his best seasons in 2007 at age 35 when he batted .338. Following a stint as designated hitter in 2011, he retired.

Posada is only the fifth MLB catcher with at least 1,500 hits, 350 doubles, 275 home runs, and 1,000 RBIs in a career. From 2000 to 2011, he compiled more RBIs and home runs than any other catcher in baseball. He is the only MLB catcher to ever bat .330 or better with 40 doubles, 20 home runs, and 90 RBIs in a single season. Away from baseball, Posada is the founder of the Jorge Posada Foundation, which is involved with research for craniosynostosis, a disease that impacts his son.

Early life and education

Posada was born in Santurce, Puerto Rico to a Cuban father and Puerto Rican mother. He attended Alejandrino High School in San Juan, where he participated in basketball, volleyball, track, and baseball. He also umpired for the girl’s softball team. As a baseball player in high school, he was named an All-Star player at shortstop in the 1988–89 season.

As Posada’s SAT scores were not high enough for him to enroll in a four-year college, Fred Frickie, the head coach of the college baseball team at Calhoun Community College in Decatur, Alabama in 1991, recruited Posada without scouting him, based on the advice of other coaches. Posada accepted the scholarship at Calhoun without visiting the school, and found himself the victim of racism: as he did not speak English, he fought with teammates who he perceived as insulting. He was voted best hitter (1990), co-captain (1991), and selected all-conference (1991). He was inducted in the Alabama Community College Athletic Hall of Fame in 2006 and Calhoun retired his number (#6).

Professional career

Draft and minor leagues

Posada was drafted by the Yankees in the 24th round of the 1990 Major League Baseball Draft as an infielder. Yankees scout Leon Wurth followed Posada as he played for Calhoun, and rated his bat and attitude highly. Posada signed with the Yankees for a signing bonus close to $30,000 only after his father extracted a promise from the Yankees that they would not release him during his first three professional seasons.

Posada played second base during his first minor league season with the Oneonta Yankees in the Class A-Short Season New York-Penn League, in which he had a .235 batting average and four home runs in 71 games played. As the Yankees felt that Posada lacked the speed to remain an infielder, they began to transition Posada into a catcher in 1992. That year, he played for the Greensboro Hornets of the Class A South Atlantic League. Though Posada initially resisted the position change, as he didn’t feel able to catch full-time, he agreed, and finished the season with a .277 batting average.

A full-time catcher in 1993, Posada played for the Prince William Cannons of the Class A-Advanced Carolina League and the Albany-Colonie Yankees of the Class AA Eastern League that season. He earned Carolina League mid-season and post-season All-Star honors.