When Buster Posey sat down at the podium Thursday in his blue suit, he began his retirement speech by thanking the woman sitting to the right of him.
Posey then thanked everyone from his parents to his kids, his agent, his teammates and coaches, the training staff and the front office.
And that sense of community is something we as players can feel in the ballpark when we took the field each night.
“I hope over the years, you’ve been able to see in our teams a sense of pride that we’ve all taken in coming together each night and each day working hard with a common goal and pushing each other along the way.
As he spoke about the fans, Posey recognized so many grew up just as his career grew too.
I thought about my own final college baseball game, walking off the field dazed by reality before breaking down when I saw my dad.
Even his final home run, a near splash hit in Game 1 of the 2021 NLDS off of Los Angeles Dodgers ace Walker Buehler will be watched on replay.
They felt proud when Posey walked away in 2020 to help Kristen take care of their adopted twin girls during the COVID-19 pandemic.
He wanted to prove to himself that he could still perform at the highest level upon returning this year and exceeded anyone’s expectations with one of the best seasons of his storied career.