Buster Posey only needed an hour for a year’s worth of farewell tour. It was important for him to thank the fans, the organization that allowed him to wear one jersey for his entire 12-year career, his family, friends and teammates — so Saturday, he got to.
And they got to thank him.
Current manager Gabe Kapler called Posey the epitome of a leader — someone who people want to emulate. “That’s the true sign that your character is strong,” Kapler said.
Brucy Bochy, who managed all three title teams, said Posey made the city of San Francisco and Bochy himself better.
“If you want to look at the backbone of our three championships, look no further than No. 28 here.”
CEO Larry Baer commended both Buster Posey the player and Buster Posey the person. Chairman Greg Johnson said a Cooperstown plaque should be in the catcher’s future.
“Buster, what else is there to say about him? He won me a ring!” Bengie Molina, Posey’s predecessor said before receiving a Buster Hug and signed jersey.
Jeremy Affeldt joked about all the dinners he loved because he knew Posey was picking up the tab.
Duane Kuiper, and others, roasted Posey’s lack of foot speed (Posey: “I could run when I needed to, okay?”).
Longtime Giants fan and filmmaker Chris Columbus gifted Posey an Emmy. Standing at a podium near the Oracle Park pitcher’s mound, Posey was literally at the center of attention — not always his preferred location.
The 40,113 fans in Oracle Park got to cheer for the three-time champion one more time.
“I never thought this was about me,” Posey said at the podium. “This was about me being a part of something. Right now, it’s an opportunity for me to thank you, the fans, for letting me be part of that, letting my teammates be part of that. I just want to tell you how thankful I am.”
After all the pregame speeches and video tributes, Posey caught two ceremonial first pitches — one from his son Lee and another from his daughter Allison. After so many pitches received behind the Oracle Park plate, those might be the two most meaningful. To cap it all off, he gave longtime closer Brian Wilson a trademarked Buster Hug.
The hour-long presentation preceded, of course, baseball. A sport that Posey loves most for its ability to bring family, friends and communities together.
That game saw 24 combined hits as the Giants (15-12) emerged from their recent hitting hibernation. Wilmer Flores (career-high six RBI), Mauricio Dubón and Darin Ruf combined to match the team’s season-high for home runs in a game. San Francisco scored more runs on Saturday than it had during the entire five-game losing streak it took into Buster Posey Day for a 13-7 win.
Logan Webb — who threw 111.2 innings to Posey — allowed a run in the top of the first inning, but the Giants quickly got it back. Posey, who was speaking to a large media scrum up in the press box, craned his neck over reporters to watch Wilmer Flores launch a grand slam into the left field seats.
Posey hit six grand slams in his career, including in Game 5 of the 2012 NLCS over the Reds. Flores’ fifth career slam gave the Giants a 4-1 lead over St. Louis.
At one point in his pregame speech, Posey gave play-by-play of each of the Giants’ three World Series runs — 2010, 2012 and 2014. For the 2010 team, he recalled the “torturous” style of play the club won with. So many low-scoring affairs, getting by with just enough timely hitting.
The 2022 Giants, though not by design, had started to follow suit. Entering Saturday, the Giants had scored five runs in their past four games. Flores’ first-inning swing gave them their second multi-RBI hit of May (Mike Ford had the only other).
Webb surrendered two more runs in the second inning, but Mauricio Dubón supplied another crooked number with a two-run home run to straightaway center. Dubón’s first of the season preceded Darin Ruf’s first of the season — another two-run shot.
Even the former Giants sluggers in the crowd for Posey’s big day — Barry Bonds, Will Clark, Jeffrey Leonard, Molina — must have been impressed by the sudden offensive eruption.
Webb lasted just five innings, allowing eight hits and walking two. The Giants maintained a five-run lead until Dylan Carlson’s three-run home run in the seventh inning off Zack Littell. But SF got one run back in the seventh and three more in the eighth to break the losing streak.
Posey wasn’t squatting behind home or standing in the batter’s box during any of the action, but he was omnipresent.
Between innings, the Oracle Park scoreboard displayed personalized thank-you messages from Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Ryan Vogelsong and Javier Lopez, George Kittle and Sergio Romo. In the middle of the sixth, the screen showed Posey receiving his 2021 Silver Slugger Award, reminding everyone just how productive the catcher was in his final season.
The biggest lesson Posey learned from baseball, he told reporters Saturday, was the ability to stay even-keeled throughout a 162-game season. In any year, there will be ups and downs, peaks and valleys. Posey mastered staying level through all the chaos.
“I don’t think there’s anyone that embodies that, exemplifies it better than Buster,” Kapler said pregame.
That trait is something Kapler wants his team to embrace — now more than ever, he said pregame. The Giants had lost five straight for the first time since 2020. They’d dropped seven of eight with a dormant offense.
But the mood in San Francisco’s veteran clubhouse hasn’t changed dramatically. The club returned first baseman Brandon Belt — who exited in the eighth with an apparent injury — and reliever Dominic Leone Saturday, and matched its season-high with 13 runs. It was their way of celebrating Buster Posey Day.
As a kid growing up in Georgia, Posey fell in love with baseball after watching the 1995 World Series-winning Atlanta Braves. He was enamored by the concept of 25 grown men all pulling for the same goal, then shamelessly acting like children when they achieved it.
The hugs. The pig-piles. The champagne showers. The parades.
Posey got to do it all three times. Who knows when the Giants will get to without him?