As a Cincinnati Reds fan, a natural disdain for Yadier Molina is nearly a rite of passage. For some, like me, this disdain reached a monumental level in August of 2010 when Molina confronted Reds second baseman, Brandon Phillips, sparking a confrontation that set off a baseball brawl for the ages.
That brawl aside, there was always something about Yadier Molina that drove me batty. Initially, I blamed it on the matching neck tattoos. Then, I blamed it solely on his general Cardinal-ness. (Yes, that’s a word.) However, the reality is this: Yadier Molina is just so damned good at what he does, and I hate that he doesn’t play for the team I follow. Molina is the quintessential case of “guy that you can’t stand, but you’d welcome with open arms if he ever decided to play for your favorite team”.
While full-bore into my Molina-loathing, something happened that completely changed my mindset. I stumbled across a GIF of Molina back-handing a low and away pitch, well out of the zone, then shooting an absolute seed to second, easily throwing out an attempted base-stealer. My jaw dropped, and then it hit me: this dude is outstanding. After watching that GIF 13 or 14 more times, I gained an appreciation for what Molina is: undoubtedly the best catcher in the game.
Here’s where it gets even more fun. From his entrance into the league in 2004 to his seventh season in 2010, Molina was a serviceable hitter. He hit a season best (to that point) .304 in 2008, but for those first 7 seasons, he hit for a meager .267 average. As an every day catcher, that’s pretty good. For Yadier Molina, though, it wasn’t good enough. Over his past three seasons, Molina hit .305, .315, and .319 respectively. So, aside from being the game’s best catcher, he decided to make offense a priority, presumably just to round out that Hall of Fame résumé a bit more.
This admiration of Yadier Molina won’t go over well in the Greater Cincinnati area. I know that. But to truly enjoy this game, sometimes we have to embrace the villain. We love to hate the Yankees, but we’d love to have the payroll. The same principle applies to Yadier Molina. His command of his defensive position coupled with a newfound adeptness with the stick means that we get to watch and appreciate one of the best players in the game.
Of course, this surely doesn’t mean we have to love him when he’s in the opposing dugout.
Thank you for reading. Please take a moment to follow me on Twitter –@aaronmoore1322. Support LWOS by following us on Twitter – @LastWordOnSport – and “liking” our Facebook page.
Interested in writing for LWOS? We are looking for enthusiastic, talented writers to join our Baseball writing team. Visit our “Write for Us” page for very easy details in how you can get started today!
