Jorge Posada

Jorge Rafael Posada Villeta (born August 17, 1970) is a Puerto Rican former professional baseball catcher who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees.

Posada recorded a .273 batting average, 275 home runs, and 1,065 runs batted in (RBIs) during his career.

A switch hitter, Posada was a five-time All-Star, won five Silver Slugger Awards, and was on the roster for four World Series championship teams.

Jorge Posada was born on August 17, 1970, in the Santurce district of San Juan, Puerto Rico to a Cuban father and a Dominican mother.

He attended Alejandrino High School in San Juan, where he participated in several sports, including baseball.

He was named to the all-star team in 1988–89 as a shortstop.

He also umpired for the girls' softball team.

Posada's SAT scores were not high enough for him to enroll in a four-year college.

Drafted by the Yankees in 1990, Posada was originally an infielder before moving to catcher during his minor league career.

He was voted best hitter (1990), co-captain (1991), and selected all-conference (1991).

Posada was drafted by the Yankees in the 24th round of the 1990 Major League Baseball draft as an infielder.

Yankees scout Leon Wurth followed Posada as he played for Calhoun, and rated his bat and attitude highly.

Posada signed with the Yankees for a signing bonus close to $30,000.

The team agreed to keep him in their system for three years.

Posada played second base in his first season with the Oneonta Yankees in the Class A-Short Season New York–Penn League, in which he had a .235 batting average and four home runs in 71 games played.

Fred Frickie, the head coach of the college baseball team at Calhoun Community College in Decatur, Alabama, recruited Posada without scouting him in 1991.

Posada accepted the scholarship at Calhoun without visiting the school.

He made friends on the team quickly.

Posada has also spoken about the racism he encountered from classmates at the school.

As the Yankees felt that Posada lacked the speed to remain an infielder, they began to transition Posada into a catcher in 1992.

Though Posada initially resisted the position change, as he didn't feel able to catch full-time, he agreed.

That year, he played for the Greensboro Hornets of the Class A South Atlantic League.

He finished the season with a .277 batting average, 38 extra-base hits, including 12 home runs and 58 runs batted in (RBIs).

He caught Andy Pettitte for the first time while they were teammates at Greensboro.

A full-time catcher in 1993, Posada started the season with the Prince William Cannons of the Class A-Advanced Carolina League.

After he hit 17 home runs and recorded 61 RBIs in 118 games for the Cannons, he was promoted to the Albany-Colonie Yankees of the Class AA Eastern League.

He earned Carolina League mid-season and post-season All-Star honors.

Still working on his defense, Posada committed 38 passed balls in the 1993 season, the most in the Carolina League.

The Yankees promoted Posada to the Columbus Clippers of the Class AAA International League in 1994.

He batted .240 with 11 home runs on the year.

He debuted in the major leagues in 1995, but it was not until 1998 that he found regular playing time.

A solid-hitting catcher, Posada established himself as a mainstay in the Yankees lineup and as one of the "Core Four" players who contributed to the Yankees' winning seasons.

From 2000 to 2011, he compiled more RBIs and home runs than any other catcher in baseball.

He is the only MLB catcher to ever bat .330 or better with 40 doubles, 20 home runs, and 90 RBIs in a single season.

Away from baseball, Posada is the founder of the Jorge Posada Foundation, which is involved with research for craniosynostosis, a birth defect that impacts his son.

In 2003, he finished third in voting for the American League (AL) Most Valuable Player Award and became only the second Yankees catcher after Yogi Berra to hit 30 home runs in a season.

He was inducted in the Alabama Community College Athletic Hall of Fame in 2006 and Calhoun retired his number (#6).

Posada added one of his best seasons in 2007 at age 37 when he batted .338.

Following a stint as designated hitter in 2011, he retired.

Posada is only the fifth MLB catcher with at least 1,500 hits, 350 doubles, 275 home runs, and 1,000 RBIs in a career.