Buster Posey is 30 today, and you are old

Look at that fresh-faced scamp up there. Wide-eyed and bushy tailed. He had never known failure, had never had his career flash before his eyes as he writhed in the dirt, had never been on one of those weird odd-year teams where someone like Alexi Casilla shows up and plays in a half-dozen games for no good reason.

That’s Buster Posey, and he turned 30 on Monday. He is no longer a fresh-faced scamp. He is wizened. He is learned. He is, above all, a veteran.

He wasn’t back then. Look at the li’l guy:

“HEY, TALL YOUNG MAN. WHERE IS THE ROTC CLASS ON THIS CAMPUS?”

There’s no point to this post other than to say a) happy birthday, Buster Posey, and b) a remind everyone that every player gets older, and it’s never easy to believe. It’s like when the days start getting shorter in the winter, and you say something very intelligent, like, “I CAN’T BELIEVE THE DAYS ARE GETTING SO SHORT,” even though it happens every year. So it goes with your favorite rookies becoming steely veterans.

Look how innocent he was here:

Thinking you have to take care of the trophy, ha ha. How rich. Those things grow on trees, Buster! The trees around your place, at least.

It seems so long ago that Bruce Bochy was a total weirdo who wouldn’t play Posey on a contending team that was desperate for runs.

It was revenge for Bengie Molina, and a lot of other things. And there was nothing that we could do about it. Molina was a made man, and Posey wasn't. And we had to sit still and take it. It was among the catchers. It was real croucher shit. They wouldn’t even pinch-hit Posey, so his mother couldn't watch him play.

That’s okay, we thought that offseason. At least Bengie Molina is a free agent, and Posey will win the job. We were so naïve.

Since then? Three championships, a Rookie of the Year award, an MVP, four All-Star Games, and a richly deserved Gold Glove. The Giants were a pretty good team in 2009, but in 2010, they became the Giants, Now Featuring Buster Posey.

That happened to be the new era of Giants baseball. The Golden Era of Giants baseball. It wasn’t a coincidence.

And now the guy is 30. Where does the time go? I can’t believe it’s staying so light outside now.

Anyway, happy birthday to Buster Posey, one of the greatest Giants ever. If the Rays make a different decision, I cannot express just how bitter we would all be today. I’m almost curious about what would have happened. The feeling passes pretty quickly, though.