YankeesGround.com | New York Yankees News, yankees Scores, Game Recaps & Commentary - <div>A Yankee who doesn't get enough ink? Is this even possible? </div>Apparently, the answer is yes. How else could Jorge Posada have put together such a tremendous career without anyone outside the five boroughs bringing up his name when the subject of consistently great players becomes the topic of conversation? The switch-hitting catcher is at it again, arriving here for this first Red Sox -Yankees confrontation of the 2009 season with his customary .929 OPS. The man has always been, and presumably always will be, a capital-H Hitter. He is the least publicized member of a Gang of Four who came up through the Yankee organization in the mid-'90s, provided the team backbone during the glorious run of four championships in five years from 1996-2000, and are all still here as viable members. What a group. Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera are first-ballot Hall of Famers. Andy Pettitte has won 217 regular- season and 14 postseason games. And Posada has made himself into the best switch-hitting catcher of his generation, and perhaps second to the great Ted Simmons among all such backstops. Jorge Posada is, quite simply, a tough out. The fact that he is catching at all this year may be the real story. For Posada, who will turn 38 in August, is coming back from surgery for a torn labrum that cut his season short after 51 games last season. ``When he came to spring training,'' says Yankees coach Tony Pe?a, himself a distinguished catcher, ``and I saw how much hard work he had put in over the winter, there was no doubt in my mind he would be catching on Opening Day.'' Pe?a is very proprietary about all catchers, but none more so than Posada, whose quiet dignity and work ethic have made him into one of the most respected players on the team. When Jeter thinks of Posada, the first word that enters his mind is ``consistency,'' and its derivatives. ``People don't appreciate his consistency,'' Jeter declares. ``To me, it's not about gaudy numbers. I just go by my eyes. He is consistent. It's very difficult to have one good year, or even two. But year in and year out, he is able to come through.'' What's most impressive about Posada is the astonishing balance of his switch hitting. We need look no further than the Red Sox catcher to realize that a switch-hitter can be far more effective from one side of the plate than the other. The most the average switch-hitter can hope for is not to have a horrible imbalance. And then there's Jorge Posada, who has been equally effective from both sides of the plate for a dozen years. His last full season, 2007, was fairly typical. His lefthanded OPS (on-base percentage plus slugging percentage) was .980. His righthanded OPS was .942. Previous splits included .766/.810 ('05), .866/.913 ('04), .915/.944 ('03), and .786/.976 ('02). Now check out 2000 and 2001. LH RH 2000 - .837 839 2001 - .943 .944 Now that's what I call switch hitting. ``It's amazing,'' says Pettitte. ``Think about what that does in the middle of our order. No matter which move a manager makes, Georgie is going to be a problem for him.'' Pettitte has been around Posada long enough to remember when he was a skinny second baseman playing for Oneonta in the New York-Penn League. So he has seen the complete transformation from infielder to top-quality catcher. ``He's caught me for so long,'' Pettitte says. ``The biggest thing for me with a catcher is can you work with him? Can you talk to him? You can with Georgie. He will listen.'' Posada was not a polished receiver when he broke into the big leagues. For years, it was fashionable to compare him unfavorably as a defensive catcher with, well, Jason Varitek, a career catcher. That began to change dramatically when Pe?a joined the Yankees, assuming the old Bill Dickey role to Posada's Yogi Berra and ``learning him all his experiences.'' For the past few years, no one has complained about Posada's defense. As you might suspect, Pe?a says he has been an outstanding pupil. ``I love working with him,'' Pe?a says. ``He never backs away from me. If I see something I think he may be doing wrong or if I want to make a suggestion, he always listens.'' ``He takes a lot of pride in his catching,'' confirms Jeter. ``The catching comes first. He has developed into a really good catcher. I think early on, he benefited from veterans like [Roger] Clemens, [David] Cone, and [Jimmy] Key. He learned a lot. Now he commands respect back there.'' Life as a big leaguer hasn't always been easy for Posada. He had to wait his turn behind Joe Girardi - how ironic is that? - before becoming the full-time Yankee catcher in 1998. He had to do lots of on-the-job training behind the plate under the New York/Yankee Stadium microscope. More important, he had to cope with the struggles of his son, Jorge Jr., who was born with craniosynostosis, which is defined as ``a congenital defect that causes an abnormally shaped skull.'' This was enormously stressful for Posada and his wife, but he never let his worries affect his play, which was truly outstanding during those early crisis years at home. He's just a pro. ``He just gets after it,'' Pettitte explains. ``He just gets after it on a daily basis. Jeter's that way. Mariano's that way. I like to think I'm that way. Georgie just gets after it, and he has become a tremendous leader on this team. He can be outspoken, and he adds a specific personality to the locker room.'' He's been a central part of this great rivalry for a dozen years, and not much has changed: If there's a clutch situation, you'd really not like to see Jorge Posada coming up. From either side of the plate. Bob Ryan is a Globe columnist and host of the Globe's 10.0 on Boston.com. He can be reached at ryan @globe.com.

A Yankee who doesn't get enough ink? Is this even possible?

Apparently, the answer is yes. How else could Jorge Posada have put together such a tremendous career without anyone outside the five boroughs bringing up his name when the subject of consistently great players becomes the topic of conversation?

The switch-hitting catcher is at it again, arriving here for this first Red Sox -Yankees confrontation of the 2009 season with his customary .929 OPS. The man has always been, and presumably always will be, a capital-H Hitter.

He is the least publicized member of a Gang of Four who came up through the Yankee organization in the mid-'90s, provided the team backbone during the glorious run of four championships in five years from 1996-2000, and are all still here as viable members.

What a group. Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera are first-ballot Hall of Famers. Andy Pettitte has won 217 regular- season and 14 postseason games. And Posada has made himself into the best switch-hitting catcher of his generation, and perhaps second to the great Ted Simmons among all such backstops. Jorge Posada is, quite simply, a tough out.

The fact that he is catching at all this year may be the real story. For Posada, who will turn 38 in August, is coming back from surgery for a torn labrum that cut his season short after 51 games last season.

``When he came to spring training,'' says Yankees coach Tony Pe?a, himself a distinguished catcher, ``and I saw how much hard work he had put in over the winter, there was no doubt in my mind he would be catching on Opening Day.''

Pe?a is very proprietary about all catchers, but none more so than Posada, whose quiet dignity and work ethic have made him into one of the most respected players on the team.

When Jeter thinks of Posada, the first word that enters his mind is ``consistency,'' and its derivatives.

``People don't appreciate his consistency,'' Jeter declares. ``To me, it's not about gaudy numbers. I just go by my eyes. He is consistent. It's very difficult to have one good year, or even two. But year in and year out, he is able to come through.''

What's most impressive about Posada is the astonishing balance of his switch hitting. We need look no further than the Red Sox catcher to realize that a switch-hitter can be far more effective from one side of the plate than the other. The most the average switch-hitter can hope for is not to have a horrible imbalance.

And then there's Jorge Posada, who has been equally effective from both sides of the plate for a dozen years.

His last full season, 2007, was fairly typical. His lefthanded OPS (on-base percentage plus slugging percentage) was .980. His righthanded OPS was .942. Previous splits included .766/.810 ('05), .866/.913 ('04), .915/.944 ('03), and .786/.976 ('02).

Now check out 2000 and 2001.

LH RH

2000 - .837 839

2001 - .943 .944

Now that's what I call switch hitting.

``It's amazing,'' says Pettitte. ``Think about what that does in the middle of our order. No matter which move a manager makes, Georgie is going to be a problem for him.''

Pettitte has been around Posada long enough to remember when he was a skinny second baseman playing for Oneonta in the New York-Penn League. So he has seen the complete transformation from infielder to top-quality catcher.

``He's caught me for so long,'' Pettitte says. ``The biggest thing for me with a catcher is can you work with him? Can you talk to him? You can with Georgie. He will listen.''

Posada was not a polished receiver when he broke into the big leagues. For years, it was fashionable to compare him unfavorably as a defensive catcher with, well, Jason Varitek, a career catcher. That began to change dramatically when Pe?a joined the Yankees, assuming the old Bill Dickey role to Posada's Yogi Berra and ``learning him all his experiences.'' For the past few years, no one has complained about Posada's defense.

As you might suspect, Pe?a says he has been an outstanding pupil.

``I love working with him,'' Pe?a says. ``He never backs away from me. If I see something I think he may be doing wrong or if I want to make a suggestion, he always listens.''

``He takes a lot of pride in his catching,'' confirms Jeter. ``The catching comes first. He has developed into a really good catcher. I think early on, he benefited from veterans like [Roger] Clemens, [David] Cone, and [Jimmy] Key. He learned a lot. Now he commands respect back there.''

Life as a big leaguer hasn't always been easy for Posada. He had to wait his turn behind Joe Girardi - how ironic is that? - before becoming the full-time Yankee catcher in 1998. He had to do lots of on-the-job training behind the plate under the New York/Yankee Stadium microscope.

More important, he had to cope with the struggles of his son, Jorge Jr., who was born with craniosynostosis, which is defined as ``a congenital defect that causes an abnormally shaped skull.'' This was enormously stressful for Posada and his wife, but he never let his worries affect his play, which was truly outstanding during those early crisis years at home.

He's just a pro. ``He just gets after it,'' Pettitte explains. ``He just gets after it on a daily basis. Jeter's that way. Mariano's that way. I like to think I'm that way. Georgie just gets after it, and he has become a tremendous leader on this team. He can be outspoken, and he adds a specific personality to the locker room.''

He's been a central part of this great rivalry for a dozen years, and not much has changed: If there's a clutch situation, you'd really not like to see Jorge Posada coming up.

From either side of the plate.

Bob Ryan is a Globe columnist and host of the Globe's 10.0 on Boston.com. He can be reached at ryan @globe.com.