As you know, Buster Posey was one of four Giants to make the All-Star team. But Posey didn't just make the team, he stormed on there thanks to the help of Giants fans who got out and rocked the vote.
Fans rocked it so hard, in fact, that Posey set a record: his 7,621,370 votes were the most votes received by a National League All-Star in baseball history.
“Yeah, it’s kind of hard to wrap my head around it right now,” Posey said, per Andrew Baggarly of CSNBayArea.com.
Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton led all MLB players with more than 11 million (!) votes, but Posey's 7-million-plus votes broke any previous records for NL votes and made him the top-vote getter in the National League.
“I’m obviously really excited. It’s little overwhelming. I just thank all the fans that voted. They’re the ones who make this special for us," Posey said. "It’s gonna be a blast. You don’t think about it that much, but when it happens, it’s humbling. As long as I can remember, I watched the All-Star Game and the home run derby. It’s a bit surreal to think I’ll be in one."
It's a pretty sweet moment for Giants fans and Posey, considering that this time last year, there was genuine concern if Posey could recover his career from a serious leg injury. Now he's the top vote-getter in NL history?
Yeah, that's a decent job of coming back from an injury. As is Posey's actual statline: he's posting a .303/.370/.851 line with 10 homers and 42 RBI in 71 games. A strong second half would likely give him the best season of his career (not that hard to pull off given the circumstances) and would almost certainly sew up a Comeback Player of the Year Award (also not that difficult given the painful circumstances).
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And Giants fans should be proud. After all, Posey and the other Giants All-Star starters were head-to-head with some serious competition to get their guys in the starting lineup.
"Wright vs.Sandoval: A city of 8 million was outvoted by a city of 800,000," Mets GM Sandy Alderson tweeted on Sunday night.
Of course, Alderson might not realize that most of those New Yorkers are Yankees fans. And that the number of people doesn't matter specifically: it's the passion for hitting the "VOTE" button online.
Posey's record-breaking numbers -- as a catcher, no less -- show just that.
