SF Giants set date to honor Buster Posey's career and legacy

Longtime SF Giants catcher Buster Posey announced his retirement earlier this offseason. The announcement caught many by surprise, especially considering that the fans did not get a chance to offer Posey a proper send off.

SF Giants set date to honor Buster Posey's career and legacy

Posey may prefer the quieter exit, but that is tough to do given what he has meant to the franchise and its fans. The Giants have confirmed that May 8 will be Buster Posey Day as a way to honor the veteran backstop's career.

This will include a pregame ceremony, commemorative items, and other festivities. The next question is, will the Giants use this as a way to retire Posey's No. 28?

Kerry Crowley of the Bay Area News Group speculates that retiring his number on that day seems unlikely at this point. It is not a matter of if, but when the Giants decide to retire Posey's number. The number will be out of circulation until the Giants can officially do a number retirement ceremony like the one they are doing with Will Clark.

Buster Posey Day is a nice way to recognize the legendary 12-year career of the former MVP. Posey slashed .302/.372./.460 (129 OPS+) with 158 home runs, 729 RBI, 663 runs, and 1,500 hits in his career.

At a position that is not known for generating offense, Posey was clearly the best of his era. It is not just what he did in the batter's box, but how he produced behind the plate as well. His game calling, pitch framing, and arm were all invaluable aspects that helped get the best out of his pitchers.

It is no surprise that pitchers succeeded when throwing to Posey. In total, the 34-year-old caught three no-hitters including Matt Cain's perfect game in 2012. For years, pitchers cited Posey's work at catcher as a contributor to their success.

It seemed as if the right-handed bat had several good seasons ahead of him before hanging up his spikes for good. He cited family reasons and the physical grind of the game as why he had decided to retire.

The 2021 season was a magical one for a lot of reasons with the team setting a franchise record of 107 regular season wins. However, a big narrative from that year was Posey's resurgence as he posted a 140 OPS+ in 454 plate appearances. That was his best mark since 2014 (143 OPS+).

San Francisco will have a large void to fill behind the dish, but the fans will get a chance to honor the career of the longtime catcher. Hopefully, this is the first of several celebrations that eventually lead to an induction in Cooperstown, New York.