One of the better traditions around all of sports are the various awards handed out by the teams themselves. Of course, if a team overdoes it and throws out tons of awards so everybody ends up with one, it does get a little stale. The San Francisco Giants are not one of those teams, and the Willie Mac award has been around since 1980, and it's given annually to the most inspirational Giants player.
This year, the Giants named catcher Buster Posey the recipient of the award. It is voted on by players, coaches and training staff, and is named after Willie McCovey, who doesn't not need to be introduced at this point. Posey will receive a plaque acknowledging the award prior to Friday night's game at AT&T Park against the San Diego Padres, according to the Mercury News.
Posey missed four-plus months last season after a collision at home plate with Florida Marlins baserunner Scott Cousins. The collision results in a fracture of his lower left leg and it hurt the Giants as a team immensely. Since coming back from the injury, Posey is hitting .335 and has 23 home runs and 95 RBI. Posey referenced the past winners of the award, and called it very humbling and special. Some of those winners include Benito Santiago, Bob Brenly and Kurt Manwaring.