Giants great Buster Posey retires

San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey made it official Thursday, announcing his retirement after 12 years, three World Series titles and a Most Valuable Player award.

The central theme to Posey’s farewell was family.

“It’s a lot more than just winning or losing games, although the wins do feel a lot better, it’s about the time spent with family, the countless nights and days pulling for your team, riding the emotions of the highs, riding the emotions of the lows, and ultimately enjoying the people that you’re with along the way and making great memories together,” Posey said.

Posey, who has four children with his wife, Kristen, said he’s going to be a “full-time Dad.”

“I’m definitely just going to take some time with my wife, talk with her and be able to be a full-time dad of four kids for the first time in a while,” Posey said. “I’m just going to take it slow and see how things progress.”

The seven-time All-Star catcher was the face of a franchise that won three World Series titles during his 12-year career. He won National League MVP honors in 2012.

The 34-year-old Posey batted .304 with 18 homers and 56 RBIs in 113 games this season. He was an All-Star for a team that won a major league-best 107 games during the regular season before being eliminated by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL Divisional Series.

Posey made his MLB debut in late in the 2009 season and batted .302 with 158 homers and 729 RBIs in 1,371 games with the Giants.

He was NL Rookie of the Year in 2010, a season that ended with the Giants beating the Texas Rangers to win one of their three World Series titles during a five-season span.

“I’m so very humbled to have played a part in some of those memories,” Posey said.

Posey played just 45 games the following season after sustaining a severe ankle injury during a collision at home plate. But he returned to win MVP honors in 2012, when he won the batting title with a .336 average and had 24 homers and 103 RBIs.

Source : Baseball – The Japan Times