Yadier Molina is a Puerto Rican professional baseball catcher for the St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball (MLB), with whom he has played his entire 19-year MLB career.
After being drafted, the Cardinals extended an invitation to Molina to attend their major league spring training camp. The young catcher aspired to be like Matheny despite his “raw” reputation.
Instructor Dave Ricketts observed Molina from a golf cart during a game while he was still learning how to catch; he had been transitioning from third base at the time during that lengthy spring training.
Molina dashed to the backstop after allowing a passed ball to get through his legs with a runner at third base. His hopes of preventing a run were dashed by seeing Rickets in the cart positioned on home plate, rather than the fielder.
Minor league catchers who allowed balls to bounce between their legs were known to enrage Ricketts, so he took Molina out of the game and sent him to the batting cage.
The teenage catcher worked on his pitch blocking skills by hitting 150 to 200 ground balls there, according to Molina.
During his first season in 2001, Molina played 44 games with the Johnson City Cardinals of the Appalachian League, hitting.259. Every year, he progressed one level to the lower leagues.
Yadier Molina Siblings: Meet Yadier Molina Brothers, Bengie Molina And José Molina
Yadier Monila was born alongside two siblings. Yadier has two brothers called Bengie Monila and Jose Molina. Likewise, all his brothers are baseball personalities.
Bengie Molina
Bengie Molina is a former Major League Baseball (MLB) catcher. He played for the Anaheim Angels / Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (1998–2005), Toronto Blue Jays (2006), San Francisco Giants (2007–2010), and Texas Rangers (2010).
In 1998 and 1999, Molina appeared in a few games for the Anaheim Angels. For the remainder of the 2005 season, he was the regular catcher for the Angels.
José became a teammate for him in 2001. In 2002, after the Angels defeated the Giants in the World Series, Molina was presented with a World Series ring.
After winning Gold Gloves in 2002 and 2003, his percentage of throwing out base stealers led AL catchers in that year’s American League (AL).
Jose Molina
Jose Molina is a Puerto Rican professional baseball coach and former catcher in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played for four teams in MLB, and for the Puerto Rican national team in the World Baseball Classic (WBC).
In 2001, he signed with the then-Anaheim Angels as a free agent, but he only appeared in a few games before taking over as Bengie’s backup catcher in 2002.
When the Angels defeated the Giants in the 2002 World Series, Molina earned his first World Series ring.