30 Mesmerizing Facts About Buster Posey That Every Fan Should Know

20 May 2019, 3:48 pm EDT By Ruby Karnick

Buster Posey, currently the catcher for the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball, is the top-selling San Francisco Giants jersey in franchise history, and also the second San Francisco Giant to win the batting title. Here are some unique things to know about the American professional baseball player:

He was born Gerald Dempsey ‘Buster’ Posey III, on March 27, 1987, Leesburg, Georgia, to Traci and Gerald Dempsey ‘Buster’ Posey II. He is the oldest of four children.
Posey attended Lee County High School and was good at football, soccer, and basketball but baseball was his favorite, in which he excelled as a pitcher and shortstop.
In his junior years, he set school records for batting average and runs batted in. He hit nine doubles, three triples and seven home runs that year. His pitching proves includes a 10-1 record and a1.53 earned run average.
As a senior he set a school record of 14 home runs averaging .462 with 40 RBI. In 13 starts as a pitcher, he had 12-0 record with a 1.06 ERA and 108 strikeouts.
He graduated with a 3.94 grade point average in high school. He was named the Georgia ‘Gatorade Player of the Year,’ the ‘Louisville Slugger’ State Player of the Year, an ‘EA Sports All-American,’ and a ‘Baseball America All-American.’
He was part of 2004 USA Junior Olympic team and played as a pitcher in Taiwan. He pitched more innings than any other hurler on the Olympic team and posted a 1.23 ERA with seven strikeouts.
Posey forgo professional baseball contract with Los Angeles Angels in 2005, to pursue college education and joined Florida State University. He played college baseball under Coach Mike Martin.
He played shortstop as a freshman for the Seminoles, starting all 65 games and ended the season with a .346 batting average, four home runs and 48 RBI.
On the suggestion of Assistant Coach Mike Martin Jr. he moved to catcher position as a sophomore. He batted .382 with three home runs and 65 RBI.
In 2008, Posey, took things to a whole new level in the game played on May 12, when he played in all nine fielding positions. On that day he struck out both batters he faced in a 10-0 win over Savannah State University.

Posey won U.S.A. Baseball’s Golden Spikes Award, just the second catcher to be honored as the nation’s top amateur player in 2008. As a junior he captured baseball version of triple crown as he finished the league leading in batting average with .463 with 26 home runs and 93 RBI to earn the ‘Collegiate Baseball Player of the Year’ and ‘Johnny Bench Award.’
He was fifth overall pick by the San Francisco Giants in the 2008 Major League Baseball Draft and signed him up with a $6.2 million bonus, the largest up-front bonus in Giants’ history.
Playing for San Jose Giants in the Class-A of California League, he batted .326 with 63 runs, 95 hits, 23 doubles, 13 home runs, and 58 RBI.
On July 13, 2009, Posey was promoted to the Giants’ Class AAA team, the Fresno Grizzlies of the Pacific Coast League, skipping Double-A Connecticut. In the season he averaged .321 in batting with 21 runs, 42 hits, 8 doubles, 5 home runs, and 22 RBI.
On September 11, 2009, Posey made his Major League debut as injury replacement, striking out in his first at bat against Hiroki Kuroda of the Los Angeles Dodgers, but a week later he got his first major league hit against Jeff Weaver of the Dodgers. In the season he had 17 at-bats scored 1 run of 2 hits.
He started his full 2010 season at first base and on June 09, he hit his first career home run against Aaron Harang of the Cincinnati Reds. Posey needed 54 at-bats for his first big-league homer and admitted he wanted it badly.
On July 07, 2010, Posey recorded his first career grand slam against Chris Narveson of the Milwaukee Brewers. He had to his credit 2- home run, 4 hits and 6-RBI.
Posey set a National League record for rookie for any ten-day stretch. In the ten game streaks between July 1 and 10, he batted .514 with 19 hits, 6 home runs, and 13 RBI. He was named NL Player of the Week for that period.
As clean-up-hitter of giants, he had a 21-game hitting streak in the month of July, when he posted a batting average of .440 with 37 hits, 6 home runs, and 23 RBI. He was adjusted both the NL Player of the Month and NL Rookie of the Month for July.
In 2010 season Posey hit .305 with 18 home runs and 67 runs batted in and handled a pitching staff that helped the Giants win the National League West Division Title. He was elected NL Jackie Robinson Rookie of the Year Award, to become the sixth Giants player and first since 1975.

Posey was also named NL Players Choice Awards Outstanding Rookie by his peers. He was also named the catcher on Baseball America’s All-Rookie Team and the 2010 Topps Major League Rookie All-Star Team.
On May 25, 2011, in the game against Florida Marlins, Posey was injured on collision with Scott Cousins, which resulted in a season ending surgery for a fractured fibula and torn ligaments in his ankle. After Cousins confessed to his deliberate collision to score a run, the MLB rule 7.13 known as ‘Buster Posey Rule’ was adopted.
He was the catcher during the Matt Cain’s perfect game on June 13, 2012, which made feel as nervous as he had ever been on baseball field. Later in July he was voted in to the Major League Baseball All-Star Game as National League catcher.
In the 2012 season Posey batted .336, with 78 runs scored, 178 hits, 39 doubles, 24 home runs, and 103 RBI in 148 games. He led both leagues in batting and first catcher to lead the NL in hitting since 1942.
The Baseball Writers Association of America named Posey the National League Most Valuable Player. He also won the Silver Slugger Award for the Catcher position and was named NL Comeback Player of the Year.
On March 29, 2013, Posey signed an eight year contract extension worth $167 million. The agreement was the second largest in Major League history and most lucrative in franchise history.
On June 19, 2015, Posey hit a grand slam and stole a base in a 9-5 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers. He became the first Giants catcher in 112 years since Roger Bresnahan accomplished the feat.
On September 27, 2016, in a 12-3 win over the Colorado Rockies, Posey recorded the 1000th hit of his career and finished the season with .288 batting average, 14 home runs, and 80 RBIs. He is highly regarded for handling pitching staff and was awarded his first Gold Glove Award.
During the first innings of San Francisco’s 2017 home opener, he was hit in the helmet by a 94-MPH pitch from Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Taijuan Walker. Though he felt better after medical attention, he was placed on week’s concussion disabled list the next day.
On January 10, 2009, Posey married his high school sweetheart, Kristen, and they have twins, a son Lee Dempsey Posey and a daughter, Addison Lynn Posey. The Posey family lives in the East Bay, during the season and Georgia during the off season.