Sports Memorabilia

Item Description

Signed baseball by 2010 National League Rookie of the Year!!!! Buster Posey is the catcher for the 2010 World Series Champions San Francisco Giants.

Biography

Widely regarded as best catching prospect in minors since promotion of Baltimore's Matt Wieters, 23-year-old made quick ascent to big leagues in 2009, just 14 months after playing in his final collegiate game in 2008 College World Series...has been tabbed by Baseball America as top prospect in Giants' system entering 2010 season...San Francisco's top pick (5th overall) in 2008 First-Year Player Draft, Posey owns .327 avg. (150-for-459) with 36 2Bs, 2 3Bs, 19 HRs and 86 RBI in 125 minor league games, spanning just 2 seasons...named to California League Mid-Season All- Star team in 2009, backstop was earned 2008 Golden Spikes Award, which is emblematic of top amateur player in country...became 3rd Giant to capture honor, joining Tim Lincecum (2006) and Will Clark (1985)...was invited to 1st professional spring training in 2009 as non-roster invitee...graduated from Lee County (GA) High School...attended Florida State University...was named AFLAC All-American following senior season while being named nation's 18th-best prospect by Prospects Plus...was Georgia Gatorade Player of Year and Louisville Slugger State Player of Year...won every major Player of Year award in 2008, winning Dick Howser Trophy and Brooks Wallace Award, while claiming Johnny Bench Award for nation's top collegiate catcher...was also named Player of Year by Collegiate Baseball, Baseball America and Rivals.com...finished '08 season as national leader in 6 offensive categories, including batting avg. (.463), hits (119), RBI (93), total bases (226), slugging pct. (.879) and on-base pct. (.566)...was also honored for his stellar work behind plate, earning Rawlings Gold Glove Award after posting .983 fielding pct. in 62 starts...became just 3rd catcher taken by Giants with their #1 pick, with others being Dave Rader (1967) and Bob Cummings (1978)...was originally drafted out of High School by California Angels in 50th round of 2005 First-Year Player Draft, but did not sign...married (Kristin)...

2009 Highlights

One of San Francisco's prized young players, Posey made quick strides in just his 2 minor leagues seasons, finishing year with San Francisco...had his contract purchased from triple- A Fresno Sept. 2 and appeared in 7 games for Giants, going 2-for-17 (.118)...made 4 starts, all at catcher and caught 40.0 innings overall...upon hearing of his call-up to majors, caught an early flight at dawn out of Las Vegas with teammate Dan Runzler and landed in Philadelphia at 3 p.m. local time on Sept. 2...his call-up was somewhat of surprise, however, with catcher Bengie Molina missing time with strained upper right quad, Giants had no choice but to add Posey to big league roster as insurance option...after hitting combined .325 with 18 HRs and 80 RBI in his 1st full season between Class A Advanced San Jose and triple-A Fresno, Posey finally got his 1st major league at-bat Sept. 11 in 10-3 loss to Dodgers in Los Angeles- NL, when he came on as late defensive insertion and struck out in his lone plate appearance against Hiroki Kuroda...collected his 1st major league hit in his 3rd career at-bat Sept. 19 at Los Angeles-NL, with bloop single to right field off Jeff Weaver...caught Randy Johnson Sept. 25 vs. Chicago-NL, which was largest age difference between pitcher and catcher since Jesse Orosco and Rob Bowen threw together Sept. 27, 2003 (23 years and 309 days)...age difference between Posey and Johnson was 23 years and 198 days (Sports Features Group)...started 4 of SF's final 9 games with club dropping out of postseason contention...prior to his promotion to big league club, spilt year between Class A Advanced San Jose and triple-A Fresno...began year at SJ, hitting .326 (95-for-291) with 23 2Bs, 13 HRs and 58 RBI in 80 contests, helping Giants win 1st half title in California League North Division with 42-28 (.600) record...Giants later went on to win CAL League Championship, their 3rd title in last 5 seasons...appeared in 64 games at catcher, throwing out 31-of-63 (49.3%) attempted base stealers, and helping San Jose lead CAL league in that category (58-of-76, 43.3%)...named co-Batter of Week with teammate Brandon Crawford for week ending April 20 after batting .500 (13-for-26) with 2 HRs and 6 RBI...after earning California League Mid-Season All-Star honors, backstop skipped double-A level and made jump to triple-A, being promoted July 14...was scheduled to be promoted earlier, however was hit in head with pitch by Stockton's Craig Italinao on June 26 and missed 5 games...upon promotion to triple-A he immediately sparked Grizzlies, as team won 1st 9 games he caught...struggled somewhat at plate in his 1st 14 games with Fresno, batting just .222, however, adjusted and recorded .380 avg. in his final 21 games to finish at .321 (42-for-131) with 8 2Bs, 3B, 5 HRs and 22 RBI in 35 contests...in 33 games at catcher position, threw out 8-of-21 (38.1%) attempted base stealers...was on fire in August, batting at .375 clip with 17 RBI and connecting on all 5 of his round trippers during his 1st full month at minor league baseball's top classification...played in Arizona Fall League in October, playing for Scottsdale Scorpions...tabbed by Baseball America as top prospect in Giants system entering 2010 season...

Item Special Note

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