Buster Posey fought back tears as he addressed media, friends and family Thursday afternoon at Oracle Park.
Following a 12-year career when he became a Bay Area baseball icon, the San Francisco Giants catcher announced his retirement.
“A lot of you out there know my first instinct is to not run and get behind the microphone,” Posey said. "But as I thought about what I wanted to say today, I realized that it’s such a unique opportunity to publicly thank so many people that helped me get here, helped me stay here and fulfill a lifelong dream of playing Major League Baseball.”
Posey was flanked by his wife, Kristen, Giants chairman Greg Johnson, Giants president Larry Baer and Giants executive vice president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi.
The same qualities Posey displayed throughout his career were on display: his steadiness, selflessness and also his quiet confidence. After thanking his wife, his teammates, the organization and the fans, Posey fondly recounted his favorite memories with the franchise.
“I’m sure there are kids out there, people out there today who’ve watched me play my entire career,” Posey said. “They actually might be adults now. There’s parents and there’s grandparents, aunts and uncles, nieces and nephews, cousins that can still remember exactly where they were when Edgar Renteria hit the game-winning homer in Texas that led the 2010 San Francisco Giants to their first World Series title.
“Or when Sergio Romo stood on the mound, shook me off from throwing a slider -- which still scares me to this day -- and snuck a fastball past Miguel Cabrera to clinch the second title in three years.
“Or when Madison Bumgarner came out of the bullpen in Game 7 and 45,000 people went deathly silent -- because they knew at that point, the game and the World Series was over.
“Or maybe you remember where you were when Matt Cain stood on the back of the mound, he gazed up at the crowd, taking it all in before he recorded the last out of the first ever perfect game in Giants franchise history. To me, this is what encapsulates baseball.”
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It truly will be an end of era with Posey. Crazy to think the Giants dynasty run from 2010-14 started more than a decade ago.
Entering the 2021 season, Posey said he had a feeling that it might be his last. Though he allowed himself mental space to entertain a 2022 return, the thought of retirement never escaped him all season.
“Not that you don’t give it your all, but it really allowed me to really empty the tank like I never had before,” Posey said. “The reason I’m retiring is I want to be able to do more stuff February to November with my family.”
Posey has four young children, as he and his wife gave birth to twins and they also adopted another pair of twins in 2020.
Looking ahead to the future, Posey said he’d like to stay involved with the Giants now that his playing career is over.
“I’ve thought about it for years now,” Posey said. “In my mind, I’ll always be part of the Giants organization. I couldn’t tell you in what capacity that is right now. But Kristen and I and our kids are just so grateful that this was the organization that drafted us.”
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