Lee County’s Buster Posey wins National League Comeback Player of the Year Award

Lee County native Buster Posey’s pro baseball career was capped with a memorable award Monday night.

Posey, the longtime San Francisco Giants catcher, joined Baltimore Orioles first baseman/designated hitter Trey Mancini as the 2021 National League and American League Comeback Players of the Year by Major League Baseball.

Posey, 34, returned to the Giants in 2021 after opting out of the 2020 season, helping the Giants finish a franchise-record and MLB-best 107-55. He missed the previous season after he and his wife, Kristen, adopted twin girls who were born prematurely.

The seven-time All-Star and five-time Silver Slugger — he won his fifth in 2021 — batted .304 with 56 RBIs, 18 home runs and 68 runs scored in 113 games.

Posey became the second ever two-time winner of the award, after previously winning the award in 2012 when he was named NL MVP following an injury-plagued 2011. Pitcher Francisco Liriano is the only other two-time winner of the award.

Posey announced his retirement earlier this month, after the end of the postseason. He cited a focus on his family as the main motivation for calling it a career in pro baseball, though the rigors of baseball took more of a toll in recent seasons.

“The reason I’m retiring is I want to be able to do more stuff from February to November with my family,” Posey said at his retirement press conference. “Physically, it’s much harder now, and, to be honest, it’s hard to enjoy it as much when there’s physical pain that you’re dealing with on a daily basis.”

Mancini, 29, missed the 2020 season as he battled Stage 3 colon cancer. He came back to play in 147 games in 2021, batting .255 with 71 RBIs and 21 home runs. He recorded 38 multi-hit games in the process and finished second on the team in doubles with 33. The 21 home runs represented the fourth time in his career (five seasons) he exceeded 20 home runs in a season.

The winners were determined by a vote from MLB.com club beat reporters.

Previous winners included Jason Giambi (New York Yankees) and Ken Griffey Jr. (Cincinnati Reds) in the award’s first year in 2005 and Salvador Perez (Kansas City Royals) and Daniel Bard (Colorado Rockies) in 2020.