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Daily Madden: Buster's Remarkable Batting Crown

SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) - Buster Posey of the San Francisco Giants won the National League batting title with a .336 average, only the fourth catcher to do so in the league's 137-season history.

"I was one of those guys, maybe as an old catcher but maybe just as a baseball fan forever, believing that a catcher could never do it," John Madden told the KCBS morning crew. "You had a built in excuse, you know, that you didn't have to have the high batting average because you were a catcher. You put on the tools of ignorance and hit like .262 and everyone was happy with you. And we lived with that excuse forever, and then a guy like Buster Posey comes along and he exposes us all as frauds."

Meanwhile the A's swept the Texas Rangers to claim the American League title in the last game of the season.

"They kind of did it under the radar," Madden said. "Now as you look back on it you can say, 'jeez, we saw this coming.' But to get all the way to the last day, and then get in first place on the last day, I mean that's stuff they write movies about and say, 'ah heck that can never happen in real life, that couldn't happen in baseball.'"

In the NFL, the surprising 4-0 Cardinals face the reinvigorated 2-2 Rams in St. Louis Thursday night.

"I think the Rams made a great move when they hired (head coach) Jeff Fisher," Madden said. "They talk about changing the culture and he went in there and changed the culture. I've always thought Ken Whisenhunt was a good coach at Arizona. He built a pretty good team and people really didn't see it because they got overcome with the quarterback controversy... They have a pretty good offensive line, they have Larry Fitzgerald, one of the best players in football, they have a good defense." (7:10)

Listen to the John Madden segment live weekday mornings at 8:15 on KCBS All News 740 AM/106.9 FM. And catch John's extra report at 9:15 a.m. Mondays and Fridays during the NFL season.

(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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