Giants catcher Buster Posey was at Topps headquarters in Manhattan recently, as the iconic baseball card brand named him their Ambassador for 2015.
Posey will appear on the cover of the Series Two base set. This set will be a continuation of several very popular offerings from the 2015 Topps Series One set. It includes First Pitch cards of actor Jon Hamm, comic and pop culture icon Stan Lee, Bill Kreutzman and Mickey Hart of The Grateful Dead, and actor Chris Pratt.
The set will have the first flagship cards for Cubs standout Kris Bryant and Diamondbacks star Yasmany Tomas, as well as additional “Highlight of the Year” autograph and relic cards that include Rickey Henderson, Nolan Ryan, and Cal Ripken Jr. The 2015 Topps Series Two base set will also feature Veterans, Rookies, Future Stars, Award Winners, and new highlights from the 2014 season.
Posey said of how special it is to be named the Topps Ambassador for 2015, “Really special. I think when Topps initially approached me, it was a brand that it was easy for me to get on board with and identify with. I collected cards with my brother, siblings, growing up. My granddad still collects cards pretty adamantly, and having a couple of small kids myself, I think it’s a neat way to learn about baseball, to get excited about certain players, but now with this Rediscover campaign, I think it’s gonna make it even easier for young kids and the younger generation to identify with their parents, as hopefully some of the parents will pull out some of their old cards and show them to the kids and the kids can have their new cards, and with the new type of cards that Topps is coming out with, some with the jersey attached to the card or the pre-autographed cards. Again, I think it’s something the new generation can and should be excited about.”
On his grandfather’s collecting, Posey said, “He likes to go out and find them himself. Sometimes, if he has a hard time finding them, he will ask me if I can get them for him, and talking with the guys here at Topps, hopefully I can put together a good package for him.”
Posey said of what it felt like the first time he saw his picture on a baseball card, “It’s a cool moment. As a fan of baseball myself as a kid, seeing all the different cards come out and then to see your face on a card is a little bit surreal, something when I saw that first one I’ll definitely always remember that.”
Posey was at Topps the day after catching Chris Heston’s no-hitter of the Mets, and he said of it, the fourth no-hitter he has caught, “A no-hitter, perfect game is a rare feat in baseball, and each one I’ve been a part of has been unique in its own way. The common theme is the pitchers are just extremely dominant on that night and couldn’t be happier for Chris Heston. A 27-year old rookie isn’t that young, seems to have really found his groove, hopefully he can continue and have a nice, long career…Chris Heston will forever be known as throwing a no-hitter against the Mets on June 9, 2015. Regardless of how lucky we’ve been to have five in the last seven years, it’s something you’re extremely excited for each time.”
On what he’s learned since he was a rookie in the majors, Posey said, “I think what I’ve learned, I already knew it but I didn’t know it in the way I know it now, is baseball’s such a long season. There’s ups and downs, the challenge is about being consistent as much as possible. Try not to get too far ahead, piece together as many wins as you can in the regular season, and when you get in the postseason, you never really know what can happen.”
Posey said of the success of Giants pitchers, “I think that Dave Righetti gets a ton of credit for the success of the pitching staff. I just think he’s great at coming up with game plans about how to attack lineups. He’s not as single-minded in the sense that this is the way you go about it and this is the only way you go about it. He’s great at reading hitters’ swings. He and I have dialogue throughout the game, we’ll look at who’s coming up the next inning, I might say ‘what do you think about this?’ So, for me, he’s been just I think instrumental in my progression as a catcher, again just deserves a ton of credit for all the success that we’ve had recently.”
On what it’s like turning the Giants into a dynasty with three World Series in five years and drawing crowds on the road like they did when they played at Citi Field, “It’s been a good run. I think the exciting thing to me is you look around at our team now, and we still feel like we’ve got a team that will compete and guys that are still hungry to win, and that’s what’s fun. I think the accomplishments are something that we obviously savor now and appreciate, but I think it will be easier to look back on once a little more time passes. Right now, a lot of us are still focused on the present and trying to win as many games as possible this year and hopefully get back into the playoffs.”