WasWatching.com

This clarifies a little, at the time, funny episode between Yogi and Jorge shortly after Yogi returned to the fold, as it were. He presented Posada with a catcher's mitt and urged him to start using this particular model rather than his game mitt. Posada noted it was smaller than his game mitt. Yogi, in his enigmatic way, just nodded and said, yes, it is. And he urged Jorge to try it out. Then he ambled off. Posada told this story to Suzyn Waldman. They both chuckled at Yogi's mysterious gift. Suffice it to say, Jorge continued to use his own mitt. Uh, perhaps Yogi was trying to help him out. Pretty much everyone has observed that Jorge has a bad habit of snatching at instead of "receiving" the ball. It means he can't effectively frame pitches (umpires see the exaggerated movement of the glove)and he relies too much on the webbing and doesn't center the ball enough, leading to pitches that glance off his mitt. The bottom line is that Jorge has to remain a plus-plus offensive force for him to mitigate his defensive liabilities. So far, he has. But for how much longer?

I agree, Posada lacks the framing technique that many other catchers have. How many times have Yankee hitters fallen victim to that close pitch called for a strike? And how many times have the Yankee pitchers not received the same favor? Further, in terms of passed balls, all I can think of is how every time Farnsworth pitches to Posada, it seems like a PB is almost a lock to happen. It cost us a big run in one of the games vs. Philly as I recall...

In Jorge's defense, a bit, he only was converted to catcher in the minors. Still, when Yogi gives you a gift, use it.