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Paul Molitor
Paul Molitor
Milwaukee
Bats Position Throws
Right IF / DH Right
General information
Height 6 ft. 0 in.
Weight 185 lbs.
Born August 22, 1956 (age 53)
Hometown Flag of the United States St. Paul, Minnesota
Jerseys
Brewers Cap2 Brewers7 Molitor4
Statistics
AVG R H HR RBI SB
.303 1,275 2,281 160 1,307 412

Paul Molitor (born August 22, 1956, in Saint Paul, Minnesota), nicknamed Molly and The Ignitor, is an American former Major League Baseball player. Molitor played for 21 seasons with the Milwaukee Brewers (1978-92), Toronto Blue Jays (1993-95), and Minnesota Twins (1996-98). He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2004, his first year of eligibility.

Career[]

High School, College and the Minors[]

After graduating from Cretin-Derham Hall High School, he was selected in the 28th round of the 1974 free agent draft as a pitcher by the St. Louis Cardinals, but opted instead to attend college at the University of Minnesota. He was a three year starter for the Golden Gophers, earning All American honors as a shortstop for his sophomore and junior years.

After his junior year in college, he was selected third overall in the 1977 free agent draft by the Milwaukee Brewers. He signed with the Brewers and began his professional career in Iowa, playing for the Class A Burlington Bees of the Midwest League.

Milwaukee Brewers[]

Molitor played several positions during his career. He started out as a shortstop, then moved to second base when the briefly-retired Robin Yount returned. Molitor then was moved to third base at the age of 25. During the latter half of his career, he was used primarily as a designated hitter, with occasional games at first base. He played 44% of his career games as a DH.

Molitor was part of a young Milwaukee Brewers team that lost the 1982 World Series in seven games to the St. Louis Cardinals. Molitor batted .355 during the series. In Game 1, he had five hits, which set a Major League record. During the 1982 season, he hit .302 and led the American League with 136 runs scored. Molitor also attracted national media attention during his 39-game hitting streak, which ended with Molitor in the on-deck circle when Rick Manning got a game-ending hit to beat the Cleveland Indians on August 26, 1987. Fans booed Manning for driving in the winning run and thus depriving Molitor of one last chance to reach 40 games. The streak continues to stand as the fifth-longest in modern-day baseball history, and remains the longest since Pete Rose's 44-game hit streak in 1978.

Toronto Blue Jays[]

Molitor was acquired through free agency by the Toronto Blue Jays in December 1992, and was a key part of the Blue Jays' second World Championship. Molitor won the World Series MVP Award and tied a World Series record by batting 12–24 (.500) in the six-game series. In 1993 Molitor led the AL in plate appearances, with 675, and hits (211).

In 1994, a strike-shortened season, Molitor led the AL in games played (115) and singles (107). He also stole 20 bases that season without ever being caught, one short of Kevin McReynolds' 1988 major league record of 21.

Minnesota Twins[]

He left the Blue Jays after the 1995 season, and joined his hometown Minnesota Twins for the final three seasons of his career, where he acquired his 3,000th hit. He is the only player to reach the 3,000 hits plateau with a triple. Molitor was relishing the opportunity to play with Twins superstar Kirby Puckett, but Puckett developed career-ending glaucoma during spring training in 1996 and never played again. In 1996, Molitor became the second 40-year-old, after Hall of Famer Sam Rice, to have a 200-hit season, leading the league with 225, while also leading the league in singles with 167. Molitor also remains the last Major League player to drive in 100 or more runs in a season while hitting fewer than 10 home runs (9 HR, 113 RBIs).[3] After retiring as a player, Molitor remained with the Twins as a bench coach for three seasons, and was considered a leading candidate to manage the team when Tom Kelly retired after the 2001 season, but declined in part because the Twins were at still at the time being targeted for potential contraction.

Statistics[]

Regular season batting[]

Milwaukee Statistics
Year Age Team Pos G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS OPS+ TB SH SF IBB HBP GDP
1978 21 MB Milwaukee 2B 125 556 521 73 142 26 4 6 45 30 12 19 54 .273 .301 .372 .673 89 194 6 4 7 5 2
1979 22 MB Milwaukee 2B 140 645 584 88 188 27 16 9 62 33 13 48 48 .322 .372 .469 .842 126 274 9 2 6 5 5
1980 23 MB Milwaukee 2B 111 512 450 81 137 29 2 9 37 34 7 48 48 .304 .372 .438 .809 125 197 9 3 6 5 4
1981 24 MB Milwaukee CF 64 284 251 45 67 11 0 2 19 10 6 25 29 .267 .341 .335 .675 100 84 3 3 5 0 1
1982 25 MB Milwaukee 3B 160 751 666 136 201 26 8 19 71 41 9 69 93 .302 .366 .450 .816 129 300 9 1 10 5 1
1983 26 MB Milwaukee 3B 152 682 608 95 164 28 6 15 47 41 8 59 74 .270 .333 .410 .743 110 249 12 2 7 6 4
1984 27 MB Milwaukee 3B 13 49 46 3 10 1 0 0 6 1 0 2 8 .217 .245 .239 .484 38 11 0 0 0 1 0
1985 28 MB Milwaukee 3B 140 642 576 93 171 28 3 10 48 21 7 54 80 .297 .356 .408 .764 109 235 12 1 7 4 6
1986 29 MB Milwaukee 3B 105 482 437 62 123 24 6 9 55 20 5 40 81 .281 .340 .426 .765 105 186 9 0 2 3 0
1987 30 MB Milwaukee DH 118 542 465 114 164 41 5 16 75 45 10 69 67 .353 .438 .566 1.003 161 263 4 2 5 1 2
1988 31 MB Milwaukee 3B 154 690 609 115 190 34 6 13 60 41 10 71 54 .312 .384 .452 .836 133 275 10 2 5 3 8
1989 32 MB Milwaukee 3B 155 696 615 84 194 35 4 11 56 27 11 64 67 .315 .379 .439 .818 132 270 11 4 4 9 4
1990 33 MB Milwaukee 2B 103 458 418 64 119 27 6 12 45 18 3 37 51 .285 .343 .464 .807 125 194 7 1 0 2 4
1991 34 MB Milwaukee DH 158 749 665 133 216 32 13 17 75 19 8 77 62 .325 .399 .489 .888 147 325 11 6 0 1 16
1992 35 MB Milwaukee DH 158 700 609 89 195 36 7 12 89 31 6 73 66 .320 .389 .461 .851 139 281 13 3 4 11 12
1993 36 ALE-TOR-Logo-Old01-1 Toronto DH 160 725 636 121 211 37 5 22 111 22 4 77 71 .332 .402 .509 .911 143 324 13 3 1 8 3
1994 37 ALE-TOR-Logo-Old01 Toronto DH 115 515 454 86 155 30 4 14 75 20 0 55 48 .341 .410 .518 .927 138 235 13 1 0 5 4
1995 38 ALE-TOR-Logo-Old01-1 Toronto DH 130 598 525 63 142 31 2 15 60 12 0 61 57 .270 .350 .423 .772 101 222 10 5 3 4 1
1996 39 Twins Minnesota DH 161 728 660 99 225 41 8 9 113 18 6 56 72 .341 .390 .468 .858 116 309 21 3 0 9 10
Totals: 2,683 12,160 10,835 1,782 3,319 605 114 234 1,307 504 131 1,094 1,244 .306 .369 .448 .817 122 4,854 209 47 75 109 100
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