Posey adds another Silver Slugger award on his way into retirement
Buster Posey homered on his first swing of 2021 and ended up putting together one of the finest offensive seasons of his career, earning the catcher his fifth Silver Slugger award on Thursday.
Posey, 34, announced his retirement last week, a mild surprise considering how productive he was at the plate this season after missing all of 2020. Posey led NL catchers with an .889 OPS (the second-highest of his career), home runs (18) as well as slugging percentage and WAR. Overall, Posey’s final season produced a slash line of .304/.390/.499.
Posey won the Silver Slugger award in 2017 and marks the fourth NL catcher to win the award five times. Only Mike Piazza, with 10, won it more times. The Giants’ alltime leader is Barry Bonds, who won nine of his career 12 Silver Slugger awards with San Francisco.
Posey earlier this offseason was named the NL Comeback Player of the Year by The Sporting News.
Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford was a finalist, but the NL award went to the Padres’ Fernando Tatis Jr.
The complete list of the 2021 winners:
National League: Catcher: Buster Posey (San Francisco Giants); First base: Freddie Freeman (Atlanta Braves); Second base: Ozzie Albies (Atlanta Braves); Third base: Austin Riley (Atlanta Braves); Shortstop: Fernando Tatis Jr. (San Diego Padres); Outfield: Juan Soto (Washington Nationals), Nick Castellanos (Cincinnati Reds), Bryce Harper (Philadelphia Phillies); Pitcher: Max Fried (Atlanta Braves).
American League: Catcher: Salvador Perez (Kansas City Royals); First base: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (Toronto Blue Jays); Second base: Marcus Semien (Toronto Blue Jays); Third base: Rafael Devers (Boston Red Sox); Shortstop: Xander Bogaerts (Boston Red Sox); Outfield: Cedric Mullins (Baltimore Orioles), Teoscar Hernandez (Toronto Blue Jays), Aaron Judge (New York Yankees); Designated hitter: Shohei Ohtani
(Los Angeles Angels).
-- Laurence Miedema
College basketball
STANFORD ROUTS MORGAN STATE IN OPENER » Francesca Belibi scored 12 points, Lexie Hull added 11 points and defending NCAA champion Stanford beat Morgan State 91-36 in its season opener.
Cameron Brink had 10 points, five rebounds and three blocks for the third-ranked Cardinal. Hall of Fame coach Tara VanDerveer mixed and matched rotations and that produced a balanced attack from her deep and versatile roster. Stanford scored 47 bench points and 14 out of 15 players scored.
This marked the highly anticipated debut of Stanford fifth-year senior transfer Jordan Hamilton, who joined the Cardinal from Northwestern. She came off the bench at the 3-minute mark of the second and made a 3-pointer to help her team build a 39-19 halftime lead.
Stanford is picked to win the Pac12 Conference regular-season crown after capturing the program’s first national title since 1992 and the third in program history by beating Pac-12 rival Arizona in the title game, 54-53.
College football
MORA TO LEAD UCONN » Jim L. Mora, who coached the Seattle Seahawks and Atlanta Falcons in the NFL and UCLA in the major college ranks, was hired to take over the Huskies’ struggling independent program. Mora will become the 32nd head coach in the program’s history.
Mora, 59, is the son of longtime NFL coach Jim E. Mora. Mora signed a five-year contract. Mora, who graduated from Washington in 1984, has been in coaching since 1985. He joined his father as defensive backs coach with the New Orleans Saints in 1992 and was the defensive coordinator with the San Francisco 49ers by the end of the 1990s.
Golf
4 TIED FOR LEAD HOUSTON OPEN » Marc Leishman, Russell Henley, Talor Gooch and Luke List shared the lead in the suspended first round of the Houston Open, with List still on the course when darkness stopped play.
Rain delayed the start for 2 ½ hours, with 0.9 inches falling at Memorial Park. None of the afternoon starters completed play.
Leishman, Henley and Gooch each finished at 5-under 65, while List had three holes left when play was called for the day.
MICKELSON TIED FOR LEAD » Phil Mickelson shot a 6-under 65 and season points leader Bernhard Langer battled for a 68 in the opening round of the Charles Schwab Cup Championship.
Mickelson had seven birdies and a bogey to match Jim Furyk and Kirk Triplett for the lead in the PGA Tour Champions season finale at Phoenix Country Club.
LEONA MAGUIRE THRIVES » Solheim Cup star Leona Maguire thrived in a star grouping with an 8-under 62 for a two-shot lead over defending champion Sei Young Kim in the Pelican Women’s Championship.
Maguire played alongside Kim and Lexi Thompson. No one in the group made bogey at Pelican Golf Club on a day ideal for scoring.
Maguire is still trying to become Ireland’s first winner on the LPGA Tour.
Maguire put on a clinic by hitting every fairway and taking only 24 putts.