Yankee Jorge Posada backstopped fans' trust

In recent decades, it has become easier to think we shouldn't expect more from athletes than good stats for fantasy games. It shields us from the disappointment of their scandals, steroids and selfish play.

Jorge Posada wasn't one of them. He retired at age 40 yesterday with the same class that defined his Yankees career.

For his 17 years in pinstripes, and only pinstripes, the quiet catcher was among those players who returned our emotional investment and our respect by living their lives, in and out of the arena, with the kind of responsibility that goes along with the pedestal.

Posada was loyal to his organization and his teammates, honest with them and with his fans. Less obvious were his off-field challenges. His son, Jorge Luis, 12, who was at the Stadium yesterday, was born with craniosynostosis, a premature fusing of the skull's bones that required eight surgeries, many for 10 hours or more, to reshape his head and face. Perhaps it was that challenge that kept the cheering in perspective for the catcher.

Posada and his wife, Laura, have started a foundation to help other families cope emotionally and financially with the condition.

In his six World Series, and in the many playoffs that ended too soon, he never seemed in it just for a paycheck. Even at the end of his final, sometimes troubled, season, he delivered in the clutch. And that's among the reasons we admire him. To the very end, Posada was a tough out.