Hall Of Fame Calls For Posada

Jorge Posada has been inducted into the Alabama Community College Athletic Hall of Fame.

Fred Frickie recruited Posada from San Juan, Puerto Rico in 1990. He got a tip about the rising infielder, whose father, Jorge Posada Sr., was then a scout for the Atlanta Braves.

"I remember coach calling me up and asking me if I wanted to come to Alabama, and I was like, Alabama?" "But when I came (to Calhoun), I think I opened some eyes. I wasn't just the son of a scout anymore."

Frickie asked Posada to squat behind the plate at practice one day to catch a few pitches and make a few throws down the second base.

"I had a stopwatch and, from the time the ball hit the mitt (from the pitcher) to the time it hits the glove at the second base, was 1.9 seconds," Frickie said. "Anything under two seconds is considered Major League talent."

A couple of years later, after Posada had been in the Yankees' minor league system, the organization proposed a permanent position switch to move him to catcher.

The rest is Yankees history.