Bruce Bochy broke into the majors in 1978 with the Houston Astros. (1st round, 24th pick) He was never a very good catcher and for his 9 years in the bigs as a player, he never got more than 154 at-bats a season (his rookie year with Houston). He has a lifetime batting average of .239 while collecting 26 lifetime homeruns. Bochy would be the back up catcher year after year to average catchers like Alan Ashby in Houston and Terry Kennedy in San Diego. One wonders if this had an affect on Bochy's paradigm of starting catchers. In Major League Baseball; there are two types of catchers. The Alpha catcher that starts 6 out of 7 games, and the back up or beta catcher that pinch hits and gives the alpha a rest. It's common knowledge that the beta catcher knows his place in the hen pecking order and is fine with it. Beta catchers aren't usually as talented as the Alpha catcher and usually makes the squad because of his ability to pinch hit.
The Golden Spikes Award is awarded annually to the best amateur baseball player. It is awarded by USA Baseball and sponsored by the Major League Baseball Players Association. Though the award can be presented to any amateur player, it has always been given to a college baseball player.
Former Florida State catching star Buster Posey was a first round draft pick by the San Francisco Giants in 2008. (1st round, 5th pick) He was also the recipient of 2008 Golden Spikes award. (an award recently won by Stephen Strasburg, Tim Lincecum and in 2002 by Mark Prior)
In 2007 Posey was awarded the Coleman Company "Johnny Bench Award"
In Buster Posey's 2010 May 29th debut, he drove in 3 runs. He is currently hitting .302 with 2 homeruns and 11 RBIs. Buster Posey is on a completely different path from that of the 1978 Bruce Bochy. The problem is; Bruce Bochy is now Buster Posey's manager.
From an outsider's observation, it appears that Bochy has done everything to stall the progress of Buster Posey. I could be wrong (and I hope I am) but I can't see the virtue in making Posey play out of position for 29 games while allowing the slumping (and terribly out of shape)Bengie Molina to start behind the plate. It came down to Sabean trading Molina to Texas before Buster would have a chance at catching for the parent club. However in a San Francisco Chronicle article, it was reported that Bochy wanted Eli Whiteside (the back up catcher) to catch the Majority of the games during the transition to let the pitching staff get "use" to the Golden Spikes/Johnny Bench award winner. In the 4 days since the Molina trade, Posey has played first base once and was pulled out of today's game early so Whiteside could pinch run in a game the GIANTS would lose in the 15th.
Is it possible that Bruce Bochy has a chip on his shoulder concerning Buster Posey (a fan favorite)? Bochy said he was going to bench Posey against the Rockies' super star Ubaldo Jimenz in San Francisco. But he added if he did, he would be booed by 40,000 people in the stands. I think this is when the animosity started. During the recent 15 day losing streak, Bochy was trying every new line-up he could think of to play 11 position players. Most of the time Posey was squeezed out of the line up to make room for Edgar Renteria at short stop. (a move Bochy refuses to admit isn't working) Renteria took Uribe's position at shortstop, pushing Uribe to 3rd base, pushing Sandoval to 1st base, thus benching Posey.
Bochy has the talent on this team to compete in a weak NL west division. He has one of the most sought after talents that he is treating like a walk on try out. Does Bochy have his own "Good ol' boys club"? Molina (36 years old) was on a 4 for 59 slump yet continued to start behind the plate. When benched, Eli Whiteside would start.
Now that Molina is gone; the new plague is the performance of Edgar Renteria. (a one time all-star gold glove short stop) Renteria is 35. His defense is not what it was in his St.Louis days. He's spent 35 days on the DL in the first 3 months of the 2010 season. Since his return, he's hit into multiple crucial rally ending double plays. While going 0 for 6.
The Golden Spikes Award is awarded annually to the best amateur baseball player. It is awarded by USA Baseball and sponsored by the Major League Baseball Players Association. Though the award can be presented to any amateur player, it has always been given to a college baseball player.
Former Florida State catching star Buster Posey was a first round draft pick by the San Francisco Giants in 2008. (1st round, 5th pick) He was also the recipient of 2008 Golden Spikes award. (an award recently won by Stephen Strasburg, Tim Lincecum and in 2002 by Mark Prior)In 2007 Posey was awarded the Coleman Company "Johnny Bench Award"
In Buster Posey's 2010 May 29th debut, he drove in 3 runs. He is currently hitting .302 with 2 homeruns and 11 RBIs. Buster Posey is on a completely different path from that of the 1978 Bruce Bochy. The problem is; Bruce Bochy is now Buster Posey's manager.
From an outsider's observation, it appears that Bochy has done everything to stall the progress of Buster Posey. I could be wrong (and I hope I am) but I can't see the virtue in making Posey play out of position for 29 games while allowing the slumping (and terribly out of shape)Bengie Molina to start behind the plate. It came down to Sabean trading Molina to Texas before Buster would have a chance at catching for the parent club. However in a San Francisco Chronicle article, it was reported that Bochy wanted Eli Whiteside (the back up catcher) to catch the Majority of the games during the transition to let the pitching staff get "use" to the Golden Spikes/Johnny Bench award winner. In the 4 days since the Molina trade, Posey has played first base once and was pulled out of today's game early so Whiteside could pinch run in a game the GIANTS would lose in the 15th.
Is it possible that Bruce Bochy has a chip on his shoulder concerning Buster Posey (a fan favorite)? Bochy said he was going to bench Posey against the Rockies' super star Ubaldo Jimenz in San Francisco. But he added if he did, he would be booed by 40,000 people in the stands. I think this is when the animosity started. During the recent 15 day losing streak, Bochy was trying every new line-up he could think of to play 11 position players. Most of the time Posey was squeezed out of the line up to make room for Edgar Renteria at short stop. (a move Bochy refuses to admit isn't working) Renteria took Uribe's position at shortstop, pushing Uribe to 3rd base, pushing Sandoval to 1st base, thus benching Posey.
Bochy has the talent on this team to compete in a weak NL west division. He has one of the most sought after talents that he is treating like a walk on try out. Does Bochy have his own "Good ol' boys club"? Molina (36 years old) was on a 4 for 59 slump yet continued to start behind the plate. When benched, Eli Whiteside would start.
Now that Molina is gone; the new plague is the performance of Edgar Renteria. (a one time all-star gold glove short stop) Renteria is 35. His defense is not what it was in his St.Louis days. He's spent 35 days on the DL in the first 3 months of the 2010 season. Since his return, he's hit into multiple crucial rally ending double plays. While going 0 for 6.
I have always avoided placing blame on the manager. In fact, I've given Bruce Bochy credit for the 1st place finishes he took his San Diego teams to. Yet once I started looking at the catchers he's managed, with the exception of Bengie Molina in the last 3 years, most of his starters had there time behind the plate split up amongst the back up catchers. Ramone Hernandez averaged 350 at bats per season in San Diego. It's really safe to say that Bruce Bochy favors back up catchers.
Buster Posey has been compared to Minnesota's Joe Mauer. Mauer had 523 at bats last year.
Major League Baseball is full of great managers that were awful players. Many of them were back up catchers(Gene Lamont) or utility infielders (Tony LaRussa/Sparky Anderson) Some feel that rookie prospects have to "pay their dues" before they are given a chance in the bigs. This seems to be the issue with Bruce Bochy. Some of Bochy's recent statements would scare me if I was an owner of the team. When asked recently about the log jam of talent, Bochy replied:"I can't play all of them". Then in another statement he said: "I'll get them all in there". This isn't the sound of a bold leader. This is the sound of someone trying to please everyone. We know you can please some of the people some of the time etc......
Buster Posey could easily be the best catcher in San Francisco GIANTS history. Not even Tom Haller would disagree with that. But if Bochy treats Posey the same way he treated Ramone Hernandez; don't be surprised when Posey is looking at Yankee dollars once he's a free agent.
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