Giants legend Buster Posey officially retires, cites family, other reasons

Sitting alongside his wife and in front of his four children, Buster Posey explained why he decided to end a career that’s unparalleled in Giants history and featured three championships, many awards and countless memories.

“The reason I’m retiring,” Posey said Thursday afternoon on the club level at Oracle Park, “is I want to be able to do more stuff from February to November with my family.”

Posey, 34, spoke about the physical grind of a long season, the extra pain he has felt in recent years and the daily work with trainers that’s necessary because of the lasting effects of extensive ankle and hip injuries.

The seven-time All-Star catcher and three-time World Series champion said he entered the 2021 season thinking he might retire when it ended, leaving open the possibility that he could keep playing.

Even with the Giants winning 107 games, a franchise record, and Posey enjoying one of his most productive seasons, it wasn’t enough to keep him in uniform.

“It was just getting to the point where things that I was enjoying were not as joyful anymore,” Posey said. “No doubt that camaraderie with teammates in the clubhouse, the thrill of winning a great game, I’ll miss.

“But, yeah, I just think weighing all those things, it was ultimately why I didn’t really feel like I wavered at all during the year.”

So now, Posey is a full-time father to two sets of twins, 10-year-olds Lee and Addison, and baby girls Ada and Livvi, who were adopted by Posey and his wife, Kristen, after they were born prematurely, a chief reason he opted out on the shortened 2020 season.

All were in attendance Thursday, as were his two managers, Bruce Bochy and Gabe Kapler, along with many longtime executives who were around when Posey broke into the majors in September 2009 and won the Rookie of the Year award in 2010, National League MVP in 2012, a batting championship and two Comeback Player of the Year awards.

All while serving as the driving force in World Series titles in 2010, 2012 and 2014.

“I’ll miss the people, No. 1,” Posey said. “I’ll miss not having a chance to share in that common objective and goal that starts all the way back in February and carries until the end of October. Yeah, the friendships, there’ll be people that I don’t get to see as much that I’ve seen for a long time. The competition. There’ll be a lot of things.

“A lot of things I won’t miss, too, to be honest. I think in these coming months, when spring training rolls around and the season starts, it’ll definitely be different.”

At that point, Posey noticed one of his baby girls crying and trying to crawl on a windowsill nearby and said, “I’m pretty sure we’ll stay busy.”

Posey’s contract has a $22 million option for 2022 that the Giants were prepared to exercise. It also includes a $3 million buyout, and the Giants are speaking with the league office on how to hash out the details.

What is known is that Posey will remain in the organization, perhaps in an advisory role.

“We’re working on an arrangement to keep Buster in the organization,” said president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi, adding that an announcement could come next week. “If he wants to remain connected to the organization, obviously it’s really important to us. Hopefully we can iron out those details in the next few days.”

Debates already are heated on Posey’s legacy and whether he’s a Hall of Famer. Playing longer could have enhanced his candidacy, but in many ways, he already measures up with some of the all-time greats.

“Of course, it’s in your mind,” Posey said of the Hall of Fame when asked about his legacy. “Obviously, I probably could have played longer if I wanted to. My legacy, I want it to be that faith is No. 1 for me, then my family, then the way I treat people, then everything falls into place after that.

“On the field, the fact that I got to win three world championships and got to be a part of the first one ever (in San Francisco) and two more. So I couldn’t ask for much more than that.”

Before taking questions, Posey read from a long statement in which he gave thanks to many people, starting with his wife, causing him to momentarily break down. They’ve been together since they were high school sweethearts in Georgia.

“It doesn’t seem that long ago that you were sitting at Lee County High School games with your dad and then Florida State University,” Posey told his wife, “and then just a couple of years later, you’re in the stands cheering with the rest of the Giants community as we won our first title.”

Last but not least on Posey’s list of those he thanked were the fans.

“I’m humbled to have been able to create great memories for a fan base,” Posey said. “And it goes both ways because I got to play in this ballpark in front of 42,000-plus most nights, and I fulfilled a childhood dream.”