The 2012 MLB regular season wrapped up on Wednesday night and one man stood alone at the top of the batting average pile: the Giants own Buster Posey.
Posey wrapped up his National League batting title victory, handily beating Andrew McCutchen in the final standings.
The Giants catcher afterward said winning the award was "special" and Bruce Bochy referred to the title as "incredible."
Those two descriptions are spot on. Posey's second half was one for the ages, as he hit .385/.456/1.102 after the All-Star Break, slamming 14 home runs and knocking in 60 RBI.
He is the reason why the Giants are the National League West champs. What makes the award even crazier, though, is that technically Melky Cabrera would've won it, had he not requested to be withdrawn from the contest on a special exemption based on his number of at bats and his suspension. (Although Miggy Cabrera is still right behind Buster in the standings for both leagues, oddly enough.)
But then there's the craziest thing: remember last year when Posey had his ankle shattered at home plate during a collision with Scott Cousins of the Marlins? Yeah, that wasn't that long ago.
"To come off a devastating injury like he had, to bounce back and not only have a good year but to win the batting title, that's amazing to me," Bochy said. "Now that he's won the batting title, my hope is he wins MVP. I'd hate to think where we'd be without him."
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Posey is a deserving MVP candidate and should probably be the favorite, honestly. He's just the fourth catcher in MLB history -- and the first NL catcher since Ernie Lombardi in 1942 (!) -- to win the award.
Of course, knowing how Posey responds to individual accolades, it's far more likely he's got his eyes on something bigger than an individual award for average.
