Jorge Posada was a leader in my eyes because he was vocal, competitive and had an obsession with winning. For example, in my book Clubhouse Confidential, I wrote about how Posada felt the weight and responsibility for winning and that he personally felt the need to tell any player what to do if they weren't, in his opinion, contributing as much toward the win.When he thought David Wells was slacking off, he couldn't keep it to himself. Posada approached Wells one game in the clubhouse and said "You don't give a damn about the team." Posada wasn't being mean. At the time, some players needed someone to bark at them now and then. Maybe that's why Posada felt an unreasonable fear about anyone touching his stuff, to the point where he would say to me "make sure that nobody even goes near it except me."
I would have to follow his directions to the letter and bring his collection of equipment to the bench in the dugout and have it waiting for him. He walk out with only a glove, then suited up for battle! A warrior is what he was. His superstitions only made his little quirks stand out all the more in sharp contrast with his otherwise perfect sense of obligation and duties. Posada was the pulse of the team. When you needed honesty, he would let the fans and media know how the team was doing. He also had his sneaky funny ways of cracking jokes on other teammates, with his buddy Derek Jeter, and this really loosened up the clubhouse. A perfect example is one time, Jorge saw Ruben Sierra come in dressed in the street clothes and Ruben would have different colors on looking, sometimes looking like a rainbow and Jorge would yell at Jeter and say look of Ruben "What the hell is that Ruben?" Everyone in the clubhouse would laugh.
Jorge was a winner. He was a student of the game that wanted to become better each and everyday. Jorge was a huge part of those five championships for the Yankee organization. I hope he makes it to the Hall of Fame one day, because he worked his tail off. And not just one the field, but off as well. Posada had such a dedication to working hard and his performance on the field, but not only being an athlete on the field, but dealing with his son who was diagnosed with Craniosynostosis. There is no doubt, no matter what he did as an athlete, he still always put his family first. I have so much respect for Jorge because of this. Posada even started his foundation because of his son's condition, The Jorge Posada Foundation.I have one important message for Jorge...it's this: God bless you on your retirement with your beautiful family and thank you for all the memories, and as you said to so many over the years... I now say to you... "Grind it."
Squeegee, you are the man, Thank you for appearing as a guest on Bleeding Yankee Blue! Ladies and Gentlemen, be sure to check out Luigi's book "Clubhouse Confidential" as well as 3 terrific Bleeding Yankee Blue pieces featuring our pal:
EXCLUSIVE: CLUBHOUSE CONFIDENTIAL
BYB EXCLUSIVE: SQUEEGEE GETS REAL
CONGRATS TO SQUEEGEE!
--Luigi Squeegee, BYB Guest Writer
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