The last time we saw Bengie Molina, he was catching for the Texas Rangers in the 2010 World Series against the San Francisco Giants, with whom he began that season. Molina didn't play in 2011, and while most figured he was basically retired, now it's official.
Bengie Molina Is Retired
Long-time MLB catcher Bengie Molina didn’t play in 2011, and now he has officially hung up his spikes.
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[Molina] walked into a surprise retirement party and a room full of former teammates, coaches, trainers and clubhouse personnel.
He didn’t play last season but hadn’t announced his retirement. The party made it official.
The 37-year-old Bengie is the oldest of the three Molina brothers, and, interestingly enough, all three of them have a pair of World Series rings. Bengie won his first with the Angels in 2002, and then he was given another by the Giants after 2010 for his time spent with the team.
If you want career numbers, I’ll give you career numbers: Molina batted 5,159 times, with a .718 career OPS and 144 home runs. He racked up more hits than his brothers have combined, although that lead won’t last very much longer. Bengie also hit pretty well in the playoffs and threw out 31 percent of would-be base-stealers.
Molina didn't have an outstanding career, relative to truly outstanding careers. Baseball-Reference gives him a career WAR of 8.1. Only two times did he finish with an OPS+ of 100 or greater. But he signed as an international free agent for $500 and wound up starting 1,267 games in the major leagues, collecting a pair of rings. He played in more games than Dean Palmer and Geoff Jenkins. He hit more home runs than David Segui and Tony Gwynn. He smacked more hits than Cecil Fielder and Lenny Dykstra. Bengie Molina turned a small opportunity into a successful career that will support him and his family for the rest of their lives.
Bengie Molina did well. Better than most of us ever will.
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