WHY I THINK JORGE POSADA SHOULD BE IN COOPERSTOWN

WHY I THINK JORGE POSADA SHOULD BE IN COOPERSTOWN 

By- Damien 

Jorge Posada was one of the greatest catchers of all time who spent his entire career with one of the best teams of all time. From 1995 through 2011, Posada helped the Yankees to 15 postseasons and four World Series championships, putting up a few of the best offensive seasons ever by a backstopper. Jorge Posada, a converted infielder, made his MLB debut in 1995, but had only 15 plate appearances in his first two seasons. In 1997, Posada played in 60 games, batting .250 with promising power, so the Yankees gave him a job in 1998. Posada rewarded the team with a great season and would only get better as time went on. He hit 19 or more home runs every year from 2000 through 2007 (his age 36 season) and won five Silver Slugger awards. In 2003, the switch hitting Posada hit 30 homers and drove in 101 runs, good for third in the AL MVP Award voting, and in 2007 he batted an incredible .338 (one of the highest marks ever for a catcher) with another 20 homers for a sixth place finish in the MVP voting. In 2008, Posada was placed on the Disabled List for the first time in his career with a serious shoulder injury that limited him to 51 games all year. Even so, from 2008 through 2011, Posada put up hitting numbers that were probably more impressive than any other catcher's except for Joe Mauer’s (and in 2010, Buster Posey’s) and won another ring in 2009. Posada played his last game in 2011 at the age of 41 and helped the Yankees to another postseason. He batted .429/.579/.571 in the ALDS against the Tigers, netting his first and only postseason triple in a losing cause. For all his homers and for anchoring the last real Yankee Dynasty, Jorge Posada really should have been a hands down Hall of Famer, but the BBWAA seemed to think otherwise. 

LIFETIME STATISTICS 

Games career: 1,829 season high: 151 in 2000 

At Bats career: 6,092 season high: 511 in 2002 

Hits career: 1,664 season high: 171 in 2007 

Doubles career: 379 season high: 42 in 2007 

Triples career: 10 season high: 2 in 1999 and 2006 

Home Runs career: 275 season high: 30 in 2003 

Runs career: 900 season high: 92 in 2000 

Runs Batted In career: 1,065 season high: 101 in 2003 

Stolen Bases career: 20 season high: 3 in 2006 and 2010 

Walks career: 936 season high: 107 in 2000 

Strikeouts career: 1,453 season high: 151 in 2000 

Batting Average career: .273 season high: .338 in 2007 

On Base Percentage career: .374 season high: .426 in 2007 

Slugging Percentage career: .474 season high: .543 in 2007 

Total Bases career: 2,888 season high: 275 in 2007 

Sacrifice Hits career: 1 season high: 1 in 1997 

Fielding Percentage career: .992 season high: .996 in 2005 

Double Plays career: 104 season high: 13 in 2004 led AL C: 13 in 2004 

Putouts career: 10,207 season high: 1,003 in 2001 led AL C: 996 in 2001, 965 in 2002, 933 in 2003 

Assists career: 715 season high: 76 in 2005 led AL C: 75 in 2003, 76 in 2005 

Caught Stealing Percentage career: .282 season high: .373 in 2006 (Posada threw out .400 of baserunners attempting to steal in 1998, but caught only 99 games) 

DID YOU KNOW? 

-nephew of Leo Posada 

-caught David Wells’s perfect game on May 17, 1998 

-was a five time all-star 

-was a teammate of both Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera for 17 years, the longest of any three teammates in MLB history 

-hit eleven career postseason home runs 

-led the AL in games caught in 2002 (138), 2004 (134), and 2007 (138) and in runner thrown out stealing in 2005 (39) 

-his 30 home runs in 2003 tied Yogi Berra’s record for homers in a season by a Yankee catcher 

-hit the first home run in New Yankee Stadium on April 16, 2009 

-hit ten career grand slams, including two on back to back days in June of 2010 

-led the MLB with 20 pinch hits in 2006 

-among MLB catchers, ranks 28th in career games caught and 16th in putouts

-also played 42 games at first base, one at second base, 181 as a DH, 169 as a pinch hitter, and two as a pinch runner 

-his uniform number 20 is retired by the Yankees