Posada Gets Our Grudging Respect

In all my Yankee-hating years, I've only respected four pinstripers—Yogi Berra, Joe Torre, Derek Jeter and Jorge Posada. I didn't say like, I said respect. Posada retired today. To be honest, Posada was a borderline case—his head-pointing antics back and forth with Pedro always rubbed me the wrong way. But, Posada was an All-Star five times and had 1,664 hits over a 17-year career. And a lot of those hits were clutch, back-breaking ones against your Carmine Hose. He played hard, he played hurt, he played well. I hated seeing him come up in a key spot, didn't you? And there's another reason to respect Posada—loyalty. There are precious few players left who value being with one franchise from start to finish. Our own Jason Varitek is one. Posada is another. He probably could have caught on with someone outside the Bronx this year, but he preferred retiring. As he put it, "I could never wear another uniform. I will forever be a Yankee." Loyalty, even to the Evil Ones, has to be respected.