Again, news of retirement is coming from the sources, and this time it is about Jorge Posada, who is planning for his retirement. Posada, who is now 40, is talking about his retirement, as he considers it the perfect time to retire from the game, and the official announcement of his retirement is on its way in the coming two weeks. He is retiring on his terms and this is the right way for him to retire. However, this news broke The Core Four to just Core Two, with Mariano Rivera and Derek Jeter left in the team.
Posada made the right decision of ending his career on a hitting and high note, by hitting .429 to lead Yankees to bat in their loss to Tigers. He also has a .579 on-base percentage to his credit over the last five games. Yankees has won 5 World Series Championship with The Core Four, and now Andy Pettitte and Posada are not a part of The Core Four. However, Posada was removed from the catching job prior to the last season, as he was struggling in the role of the hitter. He was also dropped to number 9 in batting order and was opted out in a game against Boston.
When it comes to catching, Posada said, “It is a very challenging position in the team, and one of the best thing to get involved in as you can enjoy all the parts of the game.” Talking about his achievements, Posada boasts of 264 home runs as a catcher and 275 home runs in his career. Apart from Posada, the only catcher, who has hit more home runs for Yankees, was Yogi Berra. He scored 306 home runs for Yankees. Even though the season was a bit struggling for Posada, yet he played his best game when his team needed him, and this what everyone will remember about Posada.
There was a chance for Posada to continue his career for the Yankees as a hitter, but he always loved being the catcher for the Yankees. There are more stars to his achievements, as he was the All-Star five times and played 125 games back in October. His achievements have made him a good contended for the Hall of Fame, but for now, his association with the Yankees is more important for him. George Posada will be missed just as his image wearing the catching gear for his team.
while watching your favorite soccer team beat their opponent.
After the Saturday’s match against the minnow Granada, Real Madrid registered their lead over the archrivals Barcelona in La Liga. Madrid now opens with a six points lead by thrashing Granada 5-1 at their first visit to Santiago Bernabeu in the period of thirty-six years. With this win, Madrid will feel confident when they will meet Barcelona. In fact, this win gave a psychological advantage for Real prior to their match against Espanyol. The coach of Real, Mourinho said that they would try not to repeat the sloppy performance that they displayed in the King’s Cup match against Malaga, especially in the first half. Though they came back strongly and registered a 3-2 victory. However, it cannot be denied that the first forty-five minutes was a labored effort and they were fortunate to go 2-1 up during the break.
The first goal of the home side was the joint effort of Mesut Ozil and Christiano Ronaldo for setting up Karim Benzema. Though Granada was quick to reply with an efficient attack after 22 minutes, when Mikel Rico went unmarked while heading the corner. The defense of Madrid was again seen to be dozing and Granada could have scored another goal when Rico cut through the backline and took a shot, which was saved well by Casillas. During the 34th minute, Real was back into the game when a corner was netted by Sergio Ramos with a header.
In the beginning of the second half, Real played well and did not provided any chance to the opponent to settle the score. Within the first few minutes of the second half, Benzema and Higuain helped to take the score 4-1. The hopes of Granada were thrashed by Ronaldo within a minute after the fourth goal when he netted the fifth one.
In the last encounter of Real Madrid and Barcelona in the last month’s El Clasico, Madrid lost to Barca with the score of 1-3. In spite of that, the coach of Madrid Pep Guardiola still thinks that Madrid is the strongest team and has all the potential to win the competition.
This win is expected to prove to be the confidence booster for Madrid. Now onwards, they will expect to sail through the competition positively and would lookout to retain their top position in the league. Only time will tell how the other strong contenders of La Liga performs in the crucial games that are yet to come in the tournament.
