The Decade’s Best: No. 43 Buster Posey

Buster Posey
Yarmouth-Dennis 2006 & 2007
Shortstop/Catcher
Florida State

Buster Posey certainly deserves a mention if you’re discussing the best Cape League catchers of the decade.

One thing sets him apart: he was a pretty good shortstop, too.

Posey played two summers on the Cape, but from one year to the next, if you remembered him, you probably had to look at a lineup card to find him.

Posey came to Florida State as a shortstop. From day one, he was the starter and he started every game for the Seminoles, hitting .346 and earning a host of Freshman All-America honors. He looked like a star shortstop in waiting, and he more than held his own on the Cape. In helping Y-D to a championship, Posey hit .289 with 10 extra-base hits. He also pitched in four games and had an ERA of 3.12.

Then everything changed.

Before his sophomore season, Posey moved to catcher. Even as he learned the position, he didn’t miss a beat offensively. He still hit .382 for the Seminoles. When he returned to the Cape, he was a catcher through and through. Back with the Red Sox — and leading them to a second straight championship — Posey hit .281.

At the time, especially on that Y-D team, Posey wasn’t the superstar. The overall numbers from his two seasons on the Cape aren’t overwhelming, but he was a driving force on two championship teams. If you watched him, chances are you came away impressed.

And as you probably know, Posey’s Cape summers were just the beginning.

After the Cape

Posey was good in 2006 and 2007, but I don’t know if anybody could have predicted what he did in the spring of 2008, when he became arguably the best player in college baseball. He hit .463 with 26 home runs and 93 RBI.

If Posey was outside the upper echelon of draft prospects after the summer, he was crashing the party in the spring. By June, he was a candidate to go No. 1 overall. He ended up going fifth, but he’s made everyone who passed on him regret it. After dominating at every brief stop, Posey made his Major League debut for the Giants in 2009. He didn’t see a ton of action, but he remains one of the top prospects in the game.

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