Buster Posey is known for his stoicism. Few athletes have ever come across as more relaxed and unflappable as Posey. Apparently, that didn’t always rub his opponents the right way.
One of those was Hunter Pence, who said that Posey’s seriousness and competitiveness irked him when Pence was a member of the Phillies. He also couldn’t help but respect it.
“I do think there was something unique about Buster as an opposing player that definitely left a stamp on you,” Pence said on KNBR. “I know it was intentional after knowing him. When I was with the Phillies was when he really came up. A lot of times in those days young players were supposed to be humble, it was a kind of different way about the league at that time. I came up to him and said ‘hello’ and most catchers would say ‘hello’ and be kind, and Buster was having none of it. He would just be like ‘uh huh’ and like not even look at you. Like he didn’t even care what you had to say.
“There was definitely an energy of competitiveness and it kind of hit you the wrong way. It was like this guy is really, kind of…”
“Buster Posey’s a jerk? Is that what you’re saying Hunter?” Host Greg Papa chimed in.
“He was a jerk! When you were playing against him, and that was intentional. He didn’t want to be your friend, he was out there competing against you, and I respect that and I love that.”
Pence loved it even more when he joined the Giants in 2012, and said that Posey’s philosophy and attitude rubbed off on him.
“When I came over our body language was one thing. We never waiver our body language. Granted I wasn’t the best at that but I did the best I could. But also like you don’t want to be too friendly with the other team because you want to keep it competitive. I know [Dave Righetti] was big into that. It was something that gave him a little bit of edge, and that was something I noticed playing against him.
“He’s obviously extremely clutch and extremely gifted, but you felt the energy of competitiveness when you went up to play against him.”
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Listen to the full interview below.