Posada ready to hang them up

Jorge Posada is part of the Core Four which will now be down to two members.  Andy Pettitte was the first to retire before last season and now Jorge Posada is ready to make his announcement in the next two weeks according to reports.  Sweeny Murti was the first one to report this story as it broke on Saturday afternoon.  At first glance Posada doesn't seem like a Hall Of Famer but when you look deeper at the numbers he may have a case and I would say he is a borderline Hall of Famer much like Pettitte.  Mariano Rivera and Derek Jeter are the two remaining members of the core four and they soon too will be leaving the field and going into the next portion of their life. 

Posada had a chance to sign with another team this year but I think he made the right choice.  He decided instead of hanging on for another year of diminished playing time he would retire a career Yankee.  This will also look better to the Hall Of Fame voting committee.  Posada had a lot of attributes mainly being the catcher on four World Championship teams.  He was considered a clutch player and the vocal leader of the team.  Jeter is the captain but Posada was always considered the fiery leader, the guy who would get in your face.  He wore his emotions on his sleeves and sometimes it boiled over. 

There are famous stories of him and El Duque Hernandez going at it.  It was mainly for Posada to motivate Hernandez though when the Yankees needed him most and it almost always worked.  Posada didn't always get along with pitchers, Randy Johnson didn't want anything to do with him and he wasn't the only one.  Posada though always worked hard and for a guy who came to the Yankees as a 28th round pick and a second baseman he made it work behind the plate. 

Posada was a very good switch hitting catcher and that was his strength.  He was never a strong defensive catcher but he did get better at it over time.  Posada for all of his defensive shortcomings didn't cost the Yankees as he was part of the four titles and an integral part as the catcher.  Posada got much better later in his career at throwing guys out trying to steal and blocking balls in the dirt.  Calling games I didn't have a huge problem with, it depended on the pitcher in that way, some had a problem and some worked well with him. 

Posada was born August 17, 1971 in Santurce, Puerto Rico.  He made his major league debut on September 4, 1995 in a 13-3 win over the Mariners at home.  Ironically the Yankees would take on those same Mariners in the playoffs that year and he would be along for the ride.  Posada played in nien games between 1995-96 and then in 1997 he became the full-time backup catcher to ironically again Joe Girardi who would become his manager in 2008.  He won his titles in 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2009.  He also appeared in the World Series in 2001 and 2003.  He was a five time all-star(2000-2003, 2007).  He was a five time Silver Slugger Award winner(2000-2003, 2007). 

Here are his career stats, he played in 1,829 games.  He had 1, 664 hits, 275 home runs, 1,065 RBI, 273 batting average.  In the postseason he played in 125 games, had 103 hits, 11 home runs, 42 RBI and a 248 batting average.  His fielding stats were he played 1, 574 games as a catcher and had 12, 877 innings.  He had 984 stolen bases against him, was caught stealing 387 times, had 696 assists and 90 errors.  His fielding percentage was 992. 

He will always be welcome back to Yankee stadium and as time goes on and eventually Jeter and Rivera retire these four, the Core Four will be recognized and celebrated for years to come.  I am sure Jorge won't be a stranger and he is very active in the Jorge Posada Foundation which supports and educates on Craniosynostosis which his son Jorge Jr. has.  I am sure Posada will be busy at home with his family who he has missed a lot of while playing and being on the road often.  It will be interesting to see how he is viewed in five years when he is first put on the ballot for the Hall of Fame.  He is worth putting in the discussion but if nothing else he will be remembered for being a great Yankee and a vocal leader of the latest dynasty. 

The Big Unit finally withdraws

Randy Johnson aka- The Big Unit announced his retirement this evening. He finished his career with 303 wins which is 22nd all time. Here are some more of his career accomplishments: His first game was with the Expos in Sept 1988 against the Pirates. 1st strikeout victim was Orestes Destrade He played 22 years for 6 teams 1999-2002 won 4 straight Cy Youngs-won 5 overall 2001 was a World Champion with Arizona and co MVP of the World Series along with Curt Shilling He won 17 games in back to back seasons with the Yankees in 2005-06. His 10.67 strikeouts per 9 innings were 1st all-time for starting pitchers 188 hitbatsmen is 3rd all-time 4.875 strikeouts are second all-time and 1st among left handed pitchers 7.24 hits allowed per 9 innings pitched is 10th all-time 37 shutouts is 57th all-time 20 strikeouts in a game on May 8, 2001 He pitched a perfect game on May 18, 2004 He is the 5th pitcher in MLB history to pitch a no-hitter in both leagues joining Cy Young, Jim Bunning, Nolan Ryan and Hideo Nomo. These stats were courtesy of Wikipedia. I will have more on Randy Johnson tomorrow, some comments he made at the press conference and other thoughts on his career.

A-rod hits 2 run walkoff in Classic game

I have managed to stay up for this great game. I am not going to do the statistics like I usually do. The pitching was the name of the game tonight for both teams, A.J. Burnett and Josh Beckett were just brilliant, A.J. gave up 1 hit in 7 2/3 innings and Beckett gave up 3 hits in 7 innings. The bullpens were equally brilliant as both teams pretty much used everyone. The Yankees have had a few chances but couldn't get the one big hit. Ok as I am writing this A-rod hits a 2 run walkoff homerun. He said it best everyone is exhausted including me so I am going to go to bed while watching the post game and will be back tomorrow with more. This was some game and now the yankees have a 4 1/2 game lead and can really stomp on the Sox, this has to be crushing for them as they used their whole pen that was already tired and they have Clay Bucholz going tomorrow. CC needs to come up big and get the Yanks a win and a chance for a 4 game sweep.