Here are some quotes from the Posada press conference yesterday. Thanks to the Lohud Yankees Blog for supplying the quotes. It was very interesting to hear these things said at the press conference also. Posada surely will be missed but I am sure he won't be a stranger to the Yankees.
On Posada staying in the Yankees
organization in some sort of coaching capacity
Brian Cashman: “We’ll see. Jorge has been a great Yankee.
There’s a lot of great Yankees. The one thing about this that George
Steinbrenner setup a long time ago was keeping it in the family to the best of
your abilities. And so I wouldn’t be surprised, clearly, at some point, that
Jorgie will be working with us. I’m not saying anything in the near term, but
he’s a Yankee for life, whether it’s a spring training format or something
bigger. But right now, it’s not something anybody’s focused on.”
Joe Girardi: “I think Jorge can do what he wants. I do
remember that feeling of wanting to spend that first summer at home with your
family because it’s been so long. I did the same thing and after a while I got
bored and had to go to work. The hardest part for me when I retired was when
spring training started and you weren’t going, and then the season starts and
you’re watching games on tv, not playing. It just feels kind of strange.”
Jorge Posada: “I don’t have any plans. I want to spend time
with my family. I haven’t had a summer with them, so I really want to spend a
summer with them, and have some fun with the kids.”
On whether Posada belongs in the Hall of
Fame
Joe Girardi: “I think he’s a Hall of Famer. When you look at
his numbers and stack his numbers against the catchers who have been there, what
he has meant to this club, and the championships – his numbers are incredible.
And the longevity; this is not just a six or seven year career. It’s a long
time. The fact that he was able to remain consistent for so long is amazing to
me.”
Jorge Posada: “All I wanted to do was be in the big leagues,
and when you compare me to people in the Hall of Fame, it’s like… we’ll see. I’m
excited to see what’s going to happen, but that’s up to you guys. And hopefully
we can talk about it five years from now.”
On the way Posada was used last
season
Joe Girardi: “When you’re a manager you’re
asked to make some tough decisions. As a manager you’re always going to do what
you feel is best to win a game. Maybe some of the things, when you look back you
could have handled them differently. But the decisions you make are with the
information you have that day. I was doing the best that I could. I don’t look
back and say I have any regrets. I love Jorge Posada. Jorge Posada came up when
I was a kid, and we shared so many great moments together. I’m not going to let
one tough situation take away from the relationship that we have.”
Jorge Posada: “I don’t have an issue with (Girardi). I
really don’t. It’s one of those things that, I felt like he was put there in
front of this situation and he had to put me as a DH. I think it came from
upstairs. I don’t have a problem with Joe… Talking to my wife during the season,
and talking with Derek (Jeter) during the season, I knew that this was it. I
told him and I told Laura that this was my last year, during the year. But that
didn’t change my decision. If I would’ve caught, or I would’ve DH’d, that was
probably it anyway.
On not having Posada with the team next
year
Mariano Rivera: “His fire, you know? His determination, his
passion and his drive for the game. He always was pushing and pushing and
pushing to get better. We’re definitely going to miss that, but also learn from
that, that we had a guy who no matter what was the situation, whatever adversity
he’s facing, he continued pushing. And that was Jorge.”
Derek Jeter: ”It’ll be tough. It goes without saying on the
field, you know somebody for that long, but I’ve been with him every day for 15
years, 16 years off the field to eat. So if any of you guys want to go eat on
the road, let me know. It’s going to be pretty odd.
Jorge Posada: “I think some of the young kids (will step up
to fill the leadership role). I think Robinson Cano, I think he’s going to step
up. CC’s great. CC’s a great leader on the team. Teixeira is a great leader on
the team. You’ve got Alex and you’ve got Derek and you’ve got Mo still, so their
team is well covered… It’s going to be hard for me to watch a game, period. I’m
going to watch still because I’ve got friends on the team and I want them to do
well, obviously.”