Albany Herald

After a national campaign last year, Boston Red Sox slugger Adrian Gonzalez was named the cover boy for Sony PlayStation's "MLB 12 The Show" video game. A new voting campaign is currently under way, and Leesburg's Buster Posey of the San Francisco Giants is a leading candidate.

LEESBURG — See that picture to the left?

The one that every Little Leaguer across America dreams of being theirs one day?

Well, in less than a week, Southwest Georgia’s own Buster Posey may very well be the latest Major League Baseball star to grace the cover.

Sony Computer Entertainment is once again holding a national contest for fans to select who they want to see on the cover of its newest installment of the wildly popular video game, “MLB13 The Show,” which can be played exclusively on Sony’s gaming console, PlayStation. Sony opened a national voting poll Monday, and Posey — the Leesburg native and San Francisco Giants’ star catcher who will be entering his fourth MLB season this spring — was one of seven players fans could pick from to vote onto the cover. The others were Matt Kemp (Dodgers), CC Sabathia (Yankees), Andrew McCutchen (Pirates), Bryce Harper (Nationals), Ryan Braun (Brewers) and Miguel Cabrera (Tigers).

Posey told The Herald on Tuesday in a text message that it was an honor to even be chosen as one of the candidates and he would be watching how the voting turns out.

“I was excited (when I found out I was one of the seven). For a baseball player, having the opportunity to be on MLB13 The Show is really special,” he said. “I did play the game growing up. I never really imagined having a chance to be on the cover, but it definitely doesn’t take away from the experience. Unfortunately, I don’t have much time to play now — 17-month old twins keep me busy! But my brothers (Jess and Jack) still play the game. Actually saw them playing MLB12 The Show just the other day.”

While there is no limit to how many times one can vote, fans have just a few days to cast their ballot — which can be done at mlb.com/covervote — as the winner will be announced Friday. Last year’s winner was Boston Red Sox slugger Adrian Gonzalez. Recent cover winners include Ryan Howard (Phillies, 2008), Dustin Pedroia (Red Sox, 2009) and Joe Mauer (Twins, 2010 and 2011).

Posey would seem like a slam dunk for the 2013 cover after a mind-boggling 2012 season that may never be matched. In just his third year, Posey, 25, won the NL MVP, the NL batting title, his second World Series ring, was named the MLB Comeback Player of the Year award and earned the Hank Aaron Award given annually to the best offensive player in baseball.

You can vote by clicking here, or by tweeting #MLB13Buster.