San Francisco Giants: What Buster Posey's Broken Leg Means for Team

The atmosphere is almost one of mourning around AT&T Park as the new day dawns. Buster Posey, the young, vibrant and supremely talented catcher of the San Francisco Giants, is reported to have suffered a broken leg and torn ligaments in a collision at home plate in last night's 7-6 loss in 12 innings to the Flordia Marlins.

Posey was blocking home plate as he prepared to receive a throw from right fielder Nate Schierholtz when baserunner Scott Cousins rammed into the Giants catcher, causing him to fall backward while his leg buckled beneath him.

According to CSN Bay Area reporter Amy Gutierrez via Twitter this morning, she can unofficially report that Posey's leg is broken and ligaments torn.

If that's true, it could mean a very prolonged absence from the field for Posey, who was called up from Triple-A Fresno a year ago this week, and has sparked the Giants to unprecedented success since his promotion to the big leagues.

Amy Gutierrez also reports that Brandon Belt, another promising young star in the making for San Francisco, was called up from Fresno. He may be in the starting lineup for today's series finale against the Marlins. Belt hit .337 with four home runs and 21 RBI in 31 games since being sent down to Triple-A, and with Posey likely out for a long while, the Giants will surely look to him to step up immediately.

What Posey's Absence Will Mean for the Giants

Sixty years ago this week, a 20-year-old named Willie Mays made his major league debut with the New York Giants. He wen 0-for-12 in his first three games as a Giant, yet the club won all three games after starting the season 17-19. It seemed that this phenomenal talent that had joined the team invigorated and sparked the club, regardless of how he performed. His first hit? A home run off of Warren Spahn on May 28, 1951.

Fast-forward over half a century.

On May 29, 2010, Buster Posey was promoted from Triple-A to the San Francisco Giants. With the trade of catcher Bengie Molina soon thereafter, he became the everyday catcher. And the Giants' fortunes changed dramatically.

The Giants went from a .500 club to a team on a mission. Perhaps it was the quiet confidence that Posey exuded. Perhaps it was his ability to do things on a baseball field that only a veteran of the game would do, despite his youth and inexperience. Perhaps it was his calm, reserved, yet ever-present leadership behind the plate.

Perhaps it was all of those things that gave the Giants the strength they needed to overcome the odds stacked against them to claim their first world championship since the franchise moved to San Francisco in 1958.

Now the catalyst that sparked the turnaround may be gone for several months, if not the rest of the season. No matter how things play out for San Francisco in 2011, May 25 will be looked back on as a marker for the season. It may even become the turning point on which hinges the entire season.

Will someone else step up? Will it be a different player each day? Will new blood yet again infuse and jolt this club to life, in the form of the rookie called up today?

There is some good news on the horizon for the Giants, despite the terrible incident last night.  Pablo Sandoval appears to be recovering well from surgery on his hand, and may be back in as little as two weeks according to manager Bruce Bochy (sfgiants.com).

The return of Sandoval could help San Francisco offensively and soften the blow that is the absence of Posey.

Despite their early offensive woes this season, the Giants should be able to produce enough offense, given their stellar pitching, to win games.  With the imminent return of Sandoval, the call-up of Brandon Belt, and the inevitable awakening of Aubrey Huff and others from their offensive comas, the Giants should be able to muster enough runs to win.

The most devastating impact that Buster Posey's injury could have on this team is the psychological one.  Posey's mere presence on the field and in the Giants lineup gave the Giants an intangible edge.  It created a confidence that comes from knowing that Posey, no matter how he's doing at the plate, for example, can at any given time do the incredible and lead his team to greatness.

The Giants took that and ran with it last year.  Now, for the first time since the Giants won it all, they will be without their unofficial captain.

This is the greatest challenge yet for the defending world champions. How they respond to it will very likely determine the outcome of their entire season. Someone will have to rise to the occasion to carry this club through what will surely be continued difficult stretches as the season goes on.

In 2010 the Giants were fortunate not to have suffered major injuries to any key players. In 2011, injury after injury has hampered the Giants, and now one of their most prized assets has gone down potentially for the rest of the season.

If the defending world champs are successful in their bid to repeat, they will have surmounted some harrowing challenges along their journey. Giants fans can only hope that when they look back on this day, it is remembered not as the day the Giants fell apart, but the day that they rallied to new heights as the reigning champions of baseball.