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TAMPA, Fla. -- The grass wet with morning dew, Jorge Posada blindly spun and pounced on an errant baseball, clanging his shin guards against the turf and whipping a sidearm throw back across home plate. Right on target.
This, just one of the many drills a big league catcher is expected to master by April, has become a ho-hum, everyday staple of life for Posada. Even in a camp in which rookies are creeping in at half Posada's age, the outspoken veteran still leads by example.
"I think it's part of your job to try to maintain with the young guys," Posada said. "You have to try to keep the same routine in any type of exercise. Everybody is on the same page here."
Looking past the flecks of gray that hide under Posada's catching helmet, the Yankees placed a big bet after a historic 2007 campaign, wagering $52.4 million that Posada will continue to be among the Major Leagues' most productive offensive catchers through 2011.
The odds are against it, or so say the history books. Baseball's annals are littered with catchers who were already well into decline by their mid-30s, their energy and power sapped by years of wear and tear from the game's most demanding position.
Then again, Posada hasn't been like the rest. That was evident as he assembled a renaissance career season for New York, the 36-year-old Posada batting a career-high .338 with 20 home runs and 90 RBIs in 144 games.
Quite arguably the Yankees' most indispensable player of 2007, how long can Posada buck the trend? The gaudy batting average and homer and RBI totals, combined with a .426 on-base percentage, have been matched by only two catchers in history: Bill Dickey, a Hall of Famer, and the apparently Cooperstown-bound Mike Piazza.
Neither had Posada's high mileage. Dickey's outstanding 1936 season (.362 BA, 22 HRs, 107 RBIs, .428 OBP) occurred at age 29, while Piazza's 1997 campaign (.362 BA, 40 HRs, 124 RBIs, .431 OBP) occurred when he was 28.
Don't ask Posada to explain the upsurge. For him, age really is just a number.
"Everybody says, 'Oh, you're 36, 37, 38 or whatever,'" Posada said. "A good year is a good year, no matter what. I keep hearing the same things, and for me, it doesn't matter. I'm really happy with the way it turned out, but it's over. You've got to try to keep the consistency and get better. It doesn't matter what age you are."
Posada does point to an improved diet and workout regimen, which he believes has served him well over the past five or so years. A relatively late transition to catching also hasn't hurt his case.
Groomed as an infielder for his first two professional seasons, Posada didn't become a full-time catcher until 1993. That saved him years of knee squats, foul tips and contact with errant bats.
"Most of these guys have been catching since they were little," Posada said. "I don't think I did anything different [in 2007] than when I was 25 or 26 years old. I worked hard and did a lot of things to get lucky."
Tony Pena, the Yankees' first-base coach and catching instructor, believes Posada can remain behind the plate at least deep into his contract.
"I wouldn't be surprised if Jorgie catches for a long time, because of the kind of body he has and the kind of shape he's in," Pena said. "Every year, he's been more impressive. I wouldn't be surprised if he has another one of those all-around years. Time will tell. You know with the type of body he's got, he can do anything."
An early big league mentor, Yankees manager Joe Girardi has seen the shift firsthand. While working selected Spring Training games last year as a broadcaster for the Yankees' YES Network, Girardi recalls being struck by Posada's focus, speculating even then that the soon-to-be All-Star was set for an outstanding campaign.
"He was locked in from Day 1," Girardi said. "It was amazing. His ability to go the other way was incredible. For whatever reason, his numbers were the same every month. It was unbelievable, the amount of home runs and the amount of RBIs. It was just consistent."
Girardi's memory serves him well. Posada improbably hit three home runs and collected 15 RBIs in April, May, June and July. He hit four home runs in both August and September, driving in 18 and 12 runs, respectively.
What's more, Posada -- who worked out regularly with Derek Jeter during the offseason in Tampa, Fla. -- reported to camp in good shape again, trying to maintain his same weight from the end of the '07 season.
"He looks great," Girardi said. "To say a guy is going to hit .330-plus again, that's impressive. Obviously, we'd love to have him do it. But I believe he's going to be very productive again."
Asked to consider what kept Posada fresh down the stretch, particularly after a grueling first half when the Yankees seemed disinclined to offer Posada full days of rest, Pena believes that Posada made a mental pact with himself to overstate the case.
Having cracked the 140-games played plateau in four of the previous five regular seasons coming into '07, Posada, according to Pena, set the bar even higher. Though Posada played in 144 games, plus four more in the postseason, Pena said Posada was ready to go above and beyond.
"You tell your body what it's going to allow you to do," Pena said. "He knew he would need to be prepared to catch 185 or 190 games. It wasn't just catching 162. That's what made the biggest difference."
Posada agreed, saying, "I want to be in the lineup as much as I can. I think the people here need me, and I've got a job to do."
It was a job he nearly walked away from. The Yankees may be the only organization Posada has ever known, but that didn't keep him from engaging in a brief crosstown free-agent flirtation.
Meeting with Mets general manager Omar Minaya in New York, Posada and his wife, Laura, listened to the Queens version of the sales pitch, contemplating how he could be a major cog in the opening of Citi Field and helping to clean up the Mets' devastating September collapse.
Tempted, Posada broke bread, then broke Minaya's heart. Hours before he could have discussed dollars and cents, Posada's representatives were informing the Yankees that he was ready to agree to a four-year contract, leaving the Mets to deal for veteran Brian Schneider and prompting Minaya to openly admit he'd landed his second choice.
It is a deal that provides Posada with the option of regressing out of the catching role and transitioning into a full-time designated hitter by 2011. The Yankees' glut of first basemen, so prominent in camp this year, should also evaporate by then, allowing Posada to move 90 feet up the line to a position he finds generally uncomfortable.
As long as Father Time keeps his distance, Posada may never reach that point. He waves his hand dismissively when asked about the potential position switch, as though one of the midges somehow reappeared from last October's Cleveland high jinks.
"I'm looking forward to catching four years," Posada said. "I see myself as a catcher. We've got 17 first basemen here and 17 DHs here. I don't see myself doing any of that soon."
This, just one of the many drills a big league catcher is expected to master by April, has become a ho-hum, everyday staple of life for Posada. Even in a camp in which rookies are creeping in at half Posada's age, the outspoken veteran still leads by example.
"I think it's part of your job to try to maintain with the young guys," Posada said. "You have to try to keep the same routine in any type of exercise. Everybody is on the same page here."
Looking past the flecks of gray that hide under Posada's catching helmet, the Yankees placed a big bet after a historic 2007 campaign, wagering $52.4 million that Posada will continue to be among the Major Leagues' most productive offensive catchers through 2011.
The odds are against it, or so say the history books. Baseball's annals are littered with catchers who were already well into decline by their mid-30s, their energy and power sapped by years of wear and tear from the game's most demanding position.
Then again, Posada hasn't been like the rest. That was evident as he assembled a renaissance career season for New York, the 36-year-old Posada batting a career-high .338 with 20 home runs and 90 RBIs in 144 games.
Quite arguably the Yankees' most indispensable player of 2007, how long can Posada buck the trend? The gaudy batting average and homer and RBI totals, combined with a .426 on-base percentage, have been matched by only two catchers in history: Bill Dickey, a Hall of Famer, and the apparently Cooperstown-bound Mike Piazza.
Neither had Posada's high mileage. Dickey's outstanding 1936 season (.362 BA, 22 HRs, 107 RBIs, .428 OBP) occurred at age 29, while Piazza's 1997 campaign (.362 BA, 40 HRs, 124 RBIs, .431 OBP) occurred when he was 28.
Don't ask Posada to explain the upsurge. For him, age really is just a number.
"Everybody says, 'Oh, you're 36, 37, 38 or whatever,'" Posada said. "A good year is a good year, no matter what. I keep hearing the same things, and for me, it doesn't matter. I'm really happy with the way it turned out, but it's over. You've got to try to keep the consistency and get better. It doesn't matter what age you are."
Posada does point to an improved diet and workout regimen, which he believes has served him well over the past five or so years. A relatively late transition to catching also hasn't hurt his case.
Groomed as an infielder for his first two professional seasons, Posada didn't become a full-time catcher until 1993. That saved him years of knee squats, foul tips and contact with errant bats.
"Most of these guys have been catching since they were little," Posada said. "I don't think I did anything different [in 2007] than when I was 25 or 26 years old. I worked hard and did a lot of things to get lucky."
Tony Pena, the Yankees' first-base coach and catching instructor, believes Posada can remain behind the plate at least deep into his contract.
"I wouldn't be surprised if Jorgie catches for a long time, because of the kind of body he has and the kind of shape he's in," Pena said. "Every year, he's been more impressive. I wouldn't be surprised if he has another one of those all-around years. Time will tell. You know with the type of body he's got, he can do anything."
An early big league mentor, Yankees manager Joe Girardi has seen the shift firsthand. While working selected Spring Training games last year as a broadcaster for the Yankees' YES Network, Girardi recalls being struck by Posada's focus, speculating even then that the soon-to-be All-Star was set for an outstanding campaign.
"He was locked in from Day 1," Girardi said. "It was amazing. His ability to go the other way was incredible. For whatever reason, his numbers were the same every month. It was unbelievable, the amount of home runs and the amount of RBIs. It was just consistent."
Girardi's memory serves him well. Posada improbably hit three home runs and collected 15 RBIs in April, May, June and July. He hit four home runs in both August and September, driving in 18 and 12 runs, respectively.
What's more, Posada -- who worked out regularly with Derek Jeter during the offseason in Tampa, Fla. -- reported to camp in good shape again, trying to maintain his same weight from the end of the '07 season.
"He looks great," Girardi said. "To say a guy is going to hit .330-plus again, that's impressive. Obviously, we'd love to have him do it. But I believe he's going to be very productive again."
Asked to consider what kept Posada fresh down the stretch, particularly after a grueling first half when the Yankees seemed disinclined to offer Posada full days of rest, Pena believes that Posada made a mental pact with himself to overstate the case.
Having cracked the 140-games played plateau in four of the previous five regular seasons coming into '07, Posada, according to Pena, set the bar even higher. Though Posada played in 144 games, plus four more in the postseason, Pena said Posada was ready to go above and beyond.
"You tell your body what it's going to allow you to do," Pena said. "He knew he would need to be prepared to catch 185 or 190 games. It wasn't just catching 162. That's what made the biggest difference."
Posada agreed, saying, "I want to be in the lineup as much as I can. I think the people here need me, and I've got a job to do."
It was a job he nearly walked away from. The Yankees may be the only organization Posada has ever known, but that didn't keep him from engaging in a brief crosstown free-agent flirtation.
Meeting with Mets general manager Omar Minaya in New York, Posada and his wife, Laura, listened to the Queens version of the sales pitch, contemplating how he could be a major cog in the opening of Citi Field and helping to clean up the Mets' devastating September collapse.
Tempted, Posada broke bread, then broke Minaya's heart. Hours before he could have discussed dollars and cents, Posada's representatives were informing the Yankees that he was ready to agree to a four-year contract, leaving the Mets to deal for veteran Brian Schneider and prompting Minaya to openly admit he'd landed his second choice.
It is a deal that provides Posada with the option of regressing out of the catching role and transitioning into a full-time designated hitter by 2011. The Yankees' glut of first basemen, so prominent in camp this year, should also evaporate by then, allowing Posada to move 90 feet up the line to a position he finds generally uncomfortable.
As long as Father Time keeps his distance, Posada may never reach that point. He waves his hand dismissively when asked about the potential position switch, as though one of the midges somehow reappeared from last October's Cleveland high jinks.
"I'm looking forward to catching four years," Posada said. "I see myself as a catcher. We've got 17 first basemen here and 17 DHs here. I don't see myself doing any of that soon."
