Paul Leo Molitor was born on August 22, 1956 in St. Paul, MN. Paul Molitor would grow up to be one of the most consistant hitters in Major League Baseball. Paul's first break into the majors could have happened in the 1974 June draft, when he was picked by the St. Louis Cardinals. However Molitor did not sign with them and opted to attend the University of Minnesota. Paul played baseball at the University of Minnesota and when he graduated, he was picked third in the ’77 draft by the Milwaukee Brewers. Molitor was picked after Harold Baines, who was picked by the Chicago White Sox and Bill Gullickson, taken by the Montreal Expos.
The Brewers sent Paul down to Burlington in the Midwest League so he could work on his baseball skills. Paul was called up quickly from the minor leagues as star shortstop for the Brewers, Robin Yount, injured his foot, and then tried the PGA tour. Molly, as he was affectionately called in the minors, was called up as a replacement. When Yount returned to the team, the management was unsure what to do at first. They decided to move Molitor over to second base and keep Yount at short. Throughout his career, Paul would bounce around the defense playing every infield position, as well as some outfield. Paul also saw a lot of time as the designated hitter to prevent him from injuring himself.
In 1982, Paul was instrumental in helping the Brew Crew make it to the World Series. He helped to demolish the Baltimore Orioles in the ALCS and had a whopping 7 straight hits over 2 games, after he went 5-6 in Game 1 of the World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals. The Brewers ended up losing in 7 games to the Cards.
In 1984, Paul was sidelined by a bad elbow injury. He was also injured in the 79 and 82 seasons. However this injury was much more severe, and he missed the majority of the season playing in only 13 games. While Molly would not falter in the two following seasons, he would not excel until 1987.
On July 26, 1987 Paul tied a major league record by stealing second, third and home plate in the first inning against the Oakland A's. Ten days earlier, Molitor started what would be a 39 game hitting streak, the 7th longest in major league history. It was the longest in the American League since Joe DiMaggio went 56 games with a hit in each. Paul's streak ended against rookie pitcher John Farrell. He went 0-4 and was on deck when Rick Manning knocked in the game-winning run in the bottom of the 10th.
On May 15, 1991, Paul hit for the cycle. This turned out to be the last fame Molly would have in a Brewers uniform. On December 7, 1992 Paul signed his way out of free agency with the Toronto Blue Jays. Near the end of following season, Paul scored his 100th run of that season, making Paul the oldest player, at the age of 37, to have his first 100+ run season. Also in this year, the Blue Jays rocked the playoffs and beat the Philadelphia Phillies in 5 games. Molly was named World Series MVP.
Toronto would not repeat as the World Series champions in the following year. In fact they would not even make the playoffs. Nor would they in 1995 when they finished 30 games out of first place. Just as quickly as the Jays acquired Molitor, Paul and his 4.5 million dollar salary were gone. On December 5, 1995 the Minnesota Twins signed the hometown slugger from free agency.
While the Twins would not achieve greatness while Molitor finished out his career with them, it would be improper to say that nothing had happened. On September 16, 1996 Paul tripled in the 6th inning against the Kansas City Royals to chalk up his 3,000 hit, making Molitor the first player to hit 200 hits in the season he got to the 3,000 mark. Two years later, on August 8, 1998, Paul stole his 500th base. Paul Molitor retired from baseball after that season. He had a total of 3,319 hits with 605 doubles and 1,307 RBI. On June 11, 1999, Molly's uniform was officially retired by the Milwaukee Brewers. Five years later, on January 6, 2004 it was announced that Paul Molitor was elected into the Hall of Fame. Paul's name appeared on 85 percent of the ballots, well over the necessary 75. He was inducted alongside relief pitcher Dennis Eckersley.
Statistics
Positions: Anything except Catcher or Pitcher
Numbers:
4 (With Brewers)
Bats Right
Throws Right
Height 6' 0"
Weight 185 lb.
YEAR TEAM G AB H 2B 3B HR R RBI BB IBB SO SH SF HBP AVG OBP SLG
1978 Mil 125 521 142 26 4 6 73 45 19 2 54 7 5 4 .273 .301 .372
1979 Mil 140 584 188 27 16 9 88 62 48 5 48 6 5 2 .322 .372 .469
1980 Mil 111 450 137 29 2 9 81 37 48 4 48 6 5 3 .304 .372 .438
1981 Mil 64 251 67 11 0 2 45 19 25 1 29 5 0 3 .267 .341 .335
1982 Mil 160 666 201 26 8 19 136 71 69 1 93 10 5 1 .302 .366 .450
1983 Mil 152 608 164 28 6 15 95 47 59 4 74 7 6 2 .270 .333 .410
1984 Mil 13 46 10 1 0 0 3 6 2 0 8 0 1 0 .217 .245 .239
1985 Mil 140 576 171 28 3 10 93 48 54 6 80 7 4 1 .297 .356 .408
1986 Mil 105 437 123 24 6 9 62 55 40 0 81 2 3 0 .281 .340 .426
1987 Mil 118 465 164 41 5 16 114 75 69 2 67 5 1 2 .353 .438 .566
1988 Mil 154 609 190 34 6 13 115 60 71 8 54 5 3 2 .312 .384 .452
1989 Mil 155 615 194 35 4 11 84 56 64 4 67 4 9 4 .315 .379 .439
1990 Mil 103 418 119 27 6 12 64 45 37 4 51 0 2 1 .285 .343 .464
1991 Mil 158 665 216 32 13 17 133 75 77 16 62 0 1 6 .325 .399 .489
1992 Mil 158 609 195 36 7 12 89 89 73 12 66 4 11 3 .320 .389 .461
1993 Tor 160 636 211 37 5 22 121 111 77 3 71 1 8 3 .332 .402 .509
1994 Tor 115 454 155 30 4 14 86 75 55 4 48 0 5 1 .341 .410 .518
1995 Tor 130 525 142 31 2 15 63 60 61 1 57 3 4 5 .270 .350 .423
1996 Min 161 660 225 41 8 9 99 113 56 10 72 0 9 3 .341 .390 .468
1997 Min 135 538 164 32 4 10 63 89 45 8 73 2 12 0 .305 .351 .435
1998 Min 126 502 141 29 5 4 75 69 45 5 41 1 10 1 .281 .335 .382
Career Totals:
G AB H 2B 3B HR R RBI BB IBB SO SH SF HBP AVG OBP SLG
2,683 10,835 3,319 605 114 234 1,782 1,307 1,094 100 1,244 75 109 47 .306 .369 .448
Sources:
www.baseball-reference.com/m/molitpa01.shtml
www.pubdim.net/baseballlibrary/ballplayers/M/Molitor_Paul.stm
www.baseball-almanac.com/players/player.php?p=molitpa01
tsn.sportingnews.com/baseball/players/1137/
www.mwlguide.com/biography/molitor.html
milwaukee.brewers.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mil/history/mil_history_timeline.jsp?period=5