The Bottom Line: Hip! Hip! Jorge!

The world of baseball bid farewell to one of the classiest men to ever play the game.

Jorge Posada, catcher for the New York Yankees for 17 years, retired this week and I would like to take my column space to get a little nostalgic about the 90s and the Yankees' glory years.

Oh, I should mention that I have grown up in a Red Sox house and still would have to be paid copious amounts of money to even wear a Yankees t-shirt.

Why do I look back at Posada so fondly? It's because he was one of the last tethers to my childhood when every Boston Red Sox and Yankee player was part-titan and part-god.

Growing up in suburban Boston in the 90s, I had to deal with a constant stream of failure by the Red Sox and success by the Yankees. World Series wins in 1998, 1999 and 2000 turned the Yankees into an "Evil Empire" and put them on a special level in terms of the hate they received in Boston. Even then there were Yankees you hated and Yankees you could stomach.

Bernie Williams, Paul O'Neill, Tino Martinez and Chili Davis were Yankees you could stomach.

Derek Jeter, Scott Brosius, Mariano Rivera, Andy Pettitte, and Alfonso Soriano were the ones you hated.

Posada was the one Yankee you kind of liked. With Jason Varitek playing catcher for the Red Sox there was almost a sense that the two would be connected  for a long time, which turned out to be true as both played well into their late 30s and built up Hall of Fame resumes.

Posada always played the game with elegance and class. Yes, he was caught up in the fights the two teams had in the early 2000s. But who didn't? He was one of the top catchers in the league for over a decade and the numbers are eye-popping.

Posada is one of only five catchers in MLB history to amass 1,500 hits, 350 doubles, 275 home runs and 1,000 runs batted in. He was part of  four World Series championship teams, was voted to the all-star team five times, including four straight years (2000-2003) and won the Silver Slugger award five times.

Off the field he has done extensive charity work and is known for his "This is Sportscenter" ESPN advertisements, which have gained a cult following.

With Posada retiring, the tethers of my youth are almost completely gone. Varitek unofficially retired this year and Jeter is reaching the twilight of his career. Even as the rosters turn over, the players retire and move on to coaching or endeavors after baseball, I'll always be able to look back on the American League of my grade school days and think fondly about the great players I grew up seeing.

I'll miss watching Jorge Rafael Posada Villeta play catcher for the Yankees with daft skill.

I just won't miss him winning those four championship rings.