Buster Posey

Gerald "Buster" Demp Posey III (born March 27, 1987 in Leesburg, Georgia) is a catcher in the San Francisco Giants organization. He was drafted by the San Francisco Giants fifth overall in the 2008 Major League Baseball Draft.

Early years

Posey attended Lee County High School. While there he was the Georgia Gatorade Player of the Year, Louisville Slugger State Player of the Year, and an EA Sports All-American [ [http://seminoles.cstv.com/sports/m-basebl/mtt/posey_buster00.html Buster Posey profile] , seminoles.com] .

College career

Posey played college baseball for the Florida State Seminoles under coach Mike Martin, Sr. He began his freshman year at FSU playing shortstop and moved to catcher before his sophomore season. After just one season of playing the position, Posey was a finalist for the Johnny Bench Award, awarded to the best catcher in college baseball.He finished behind Edward Easley of the Mississippi State Bulldogs [ [http://www.wichitasports.com/content/view/13/34/ 2007 Coleman Company-Johnny Bench Award] , Greater Wichita Area Sports Commission ] . In 2008, as a junior, he won the Johnny Bench Award. [ [http://www.wichitasports.com/component/option,com_frontpage/Itemid,1/ 2008 Coleman Company-Johnny Bench Award Finalists Announced] ,Greater Wichita Area Sports Commission] . He was also named the 2008 Collegiate Baseball Player of the Year [ [http://seminoles.cstv.com/sports/m-basebl/spec-rel/052908aac.html Buster Posey Named Collegiate Baseball Player Of The Year] , seminoles.com] and the best player in the 2008 NCAA Division 1 Tallahassee Regional. On June 14, 2008, Posey was awarded the Dick Howser Trophy, and on July 16, 2008, he won the Golden Spikes Award, which is given to the best player in amateur baseball. In addition, Posey started at shortstop on the 2006 Cape Cod Baseball League championship team for the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox and started as the catcher on the 2007 championship team as well.

MLB future

Posey was considered the best catcher available in the 2008 Major League Baseball Draft. He was drafted by the San Francisco Giants with the fifth overall pick. [ [http://www.insidebayarea.com/sports/ci_9490926 Giants take catcher with top pick] ] . On August 15, 2008, the Giants signed Posey shortly before the signing deadline for draftees, giving him a $6.2 million bonus, the largest up-front bonus in MLB draft history. [ [http://news.yahoo.com/s/cpress/20080816/ca_pr_on_ba/bbl_giants_posey_2 San Francisco Giants sign top pick Buster Posey before deadline] ]

References

External links

* [http://seminoles.cstv.com/sports/m-basebl/mtt/posey_buster00.html Florida State Seminoles bio]
* [http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/events/draft_report/y2008/index.jsp?mc=posey Draft Profile]