Remembering Jorge Posada

From his debut in 1995 until 2011, one familiar face owned the New York Yankees catching position. He was like a block of granite, a tough, dependable, well- liked gentleman named Jorge Posada.

His careers numbers only begin to tell the story of his true value to the Yankees. For the record, he hit .273 with 275 home runs and 1065 runs batted in during his service as the Yankees back stop. Some may say these are not spectacular statistics, but as every Yankees’ fan wants to know-what did it get us?

Well, I’m glad you asked. Brace yourself, because here it comes.

Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports

It got us an All-Star catcher five times- in 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2007. It got us a five- time Silver Slugger Award, which is given to the best offensive player at each position. Most importantly, it got us four World Series championships in 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2009.

While serving as the Yankees bench coach, Joe Girardi said of the respect Posada received, “he was always fiery, but when you’re a young player…some players aren’t sure they should follow you. Until you earn their trust, they’re not going to. He’s been here so long now and he’s so well known, they understand they follow him from day one. He’s going to do his job, he’s going to be prepared and he’s a great leader.”

With all of his accolades on the field, Posada is perhaps most loved for his work in the community.The Jorge Posada Foundation provided families and children affected by Craniosynostosis with emotional support and financial assistance. Craniosynostosis is a condition in which one or more of the fibrous sutures in an infant skull prematurely fuses by turning into bone (ossification), thereby changing the growth pattern of the skull.  His son is impacted by the disease.

Posada said at Children’s Hospital of Montefiore, “I’m very happy that we’re here. Our foundation and our family is taking a lot of time to see a lot of kids that are not doing well, so we’re going to try to bring a little smile to their faces. We wanted to go to a children’s hospital and we wanted it to be in New York and close to Yankee Stadium…”

So what did we get from Jorge Posada? That is what we got.