Early Life and Education
Posada was born in Santurce, Puerto Rico. He attended Alejandrino High School in San Juan, where he participated in basketball, volleyball, track, and baseball. He also umpired for the girl's softball team. As a baseball player in high school, he was named an All-Star player at shortstop in the 1988–89 season.
As Posada's SAT scores were not high enough for him to enroll in a four-year college, Fred Frickie, the head coach of the college baseball team at Calhoun Community College in Decatur, Alabama in 1991, recruited Posada without scouting him, based on the advice of other coaches. Posada accepted the scholarship at Calhoun without visiting the school, and found himself the victim of racism: as he did not speak English, he fought with teammates who he perceived as insulting. He was voted best hitter (1990), co-captain (1991), and selected all-conference (1991). He was inducted in the Alabama Community College Athletic Hall of Fame in 2006 and Calhoun retired his number (#6).
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