A pair of Perfect Game graduates
and Aflac All-Americans are scheduled to form the battery for the San Francisco
Giants in Game 4 of the World Series Sunday night against the Texas Rangers.
Madison Bumgarner, the scheduled
starting pitcher for the Giants, played in Perfect Game events during his high
school career in Lenoir, N.C., and was named to the Aflac All-American Classic
in 2006. Buster Posey, another PG grad and an Aflac All-American in 2004 from
Leesburg, Ga., would be his catcher.
Both young men made strong
impressions on Perfect Game scouts during their prep careers, although Posey
was a rifle-armed shortstop and pitcher at the time.
“Great arm, good hands and nice
actions,” Perfect Game declared after watching Posey at the 2004 National
Showcase. “He shows big-time hitting ability with surprising power.”
The Giants summoned Posey to the
big leagues this season and he made such a strong impression that San Francisco
traded Bengie Molina, their starting catcher, to the Texas Rangers to make room
for Posey behind the plate. Posey, 23, has been hitting in the No.3 hole for
the Giants in the Series, the first rookie catcher to bat third in a World
Series game since Yogi Berra with the New York Yankees in 1947.
Bumgarner, 21, impressed the
Perfect Game scouts at the 2006 National Showcase before playing in the Aflac
Classic that summer. He had a “big league type body” and a “strong, powerful
6-5, 220 frame,” according to the scouting reports.
“Frankly, he looks like he can
do just about anything he wants to do athletically and probably can,” a PG
scout declared.
Posey and Bumgarner are not the
only Perfect Game graduates who are performing in the Fall Classic. The Giants
have five PG grads on their team and the Rangers have six PG products, which
means that 11 of the 50 players in the World Series – a full 22 percent –
appeared in at least one Perfect Game event as high school players.
San Francisco’s other Perfect
Game graduates are pitcher Matt Cain, pitcher Jonathan Sanchez and outfielder
Cody Ross. Cain was the winning pitcher for the Giants in Game 2 of the World
Series Thursday night, and Ross has been a clutch hitter for San Francisco
during the postseason after being acquired late in the year.
The Texas Rangers have six
Perfect Game products on their World Series roster with pitcher Derek Holland,
pitcher Tommy Hunter, pitcher Michael Kirkman, outfielder Julio Borbon,
outfielder Jeff Francoeur and first baseman Mitch Moreland. Hunter is
tentatively scheduled to be the starting pitcher in Game 4 Sunday night against
Bumgarner, but the Rangers might switch to Cliff Lee if they are facing
elimination.