The back: Molitor was twice named a First Team All-American at Minnesota. The university presented him with an Outstanding Achievement Award in 2005, a year after he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
The player: Paul Molitor played 21 seasons in the major leagues. Despite missing significant time due to a variety of injuries, he put together a Hall of Fame career, hitting .306 with 3,319 hits, 234 HR, 1,307 RBI and 504 SB. Nicknamed "The Ignitor", he was the catalyst for the lineups of the pennant winning '82 Brewers (league leading 136 runs) and '93 Blue Jays (league leading 211 hits). He hit safely in 39 straight games in 1987; no batter has topped that mark since.
The man: Molitor's personal life has been filled with controversy, most notably cocaine use in the early 1980s. More recently he fathered children from multiple women while he was married and divorcing from his long-time wife. Molitor managed the Twins from 2015-2018 and is now a special assistant for the team.
My collection: I have 203 of his cards, from 1978 to 1999. I would be interested in trading for 1980 Pepsi-Cola All-Stars #2.
That's an interesting photo. I miss plain brick walls on baseball cards.
ReplyDeleteI wish I would've paid more attention to him when I was young.
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