Welcome back, Yadier Molina!
I smiled on Friday morning, when talking on the phone with Cards manager Oli Marmol, and he told me about Molina’s homecoming weekend at Busch Stadium.
The awesome thing about this: Molina won’t be sitting upstairs in street clothes, in a suite, nibbling on snacks and saying hello to old acquaintances that stop by.
Instead, Molina wanted the experience to be more meaningful by putting on the Birds on the Bat uniform and sitting among the Cardinal players in the home-team dugout for their Friday-Saturday night games against the rival Cubs.
Rivalry Weekend?
With Yadier Molina front and center for back-to-back games, staring across the way, into the Cubs dugout?
How delightful.
“I think this is fantastic, and I can’t wait for our players to be around Yadi, talking with him and asking questions and listening to him,” Marmol told me. “I want to see the look on their faces. An experience like this is meaningful, because it helps our guys, especially the younger guys, have that understanding, even more than they already do, of what it means to be a Cardinal.
“And having him with us reinforces the incredible history of this franchise and the value of the players and men who have poured everything into it creating one of most successful franchises in baseball history.
“We have so much history, and it’s important to stay connected to it. It’s something we’re proud of, to wear this uniform. And Yadi represents all of this.”
Marmol definitely has a point.
Let’s talk about it.
First, there are the players from the Tony La Russa Era of baseball in St. Louis. The era actually continued for a while after TLR’s retirement because some of his players were still in place – and he standards and teachings were definitely ingrained in the collective team mentality. La Russa retired after the 2011 season, but his team culture remained and was a factor in extending the success.
Think about the star players and role players and smile. They were a part of something special. Cooperstown Hall of Famers. Cardinals Hall of Famers. Legends. Baseball Heroes.
It’s quite a list, and forgive me if I excluded anyone who should be mentioned. (It wasn’t intentional.) So many guys, “put in their piece,” as La Russa said. Stars and contributors alike.
Yadier Molina, Albert Pujols, Jim Edmonds, Mark McGwire, Scott Rolen, Chris Carpenter, Adam Wainwright, Matt Holliday, David Eckstein, Edgar Renteria, Darryl Kile, Ray Lankford, Matt Morris, Jason Isringhausen, David Freese, Matt Carpenter, Lance Lynn, Andy Benes, Reggie Sanders, Lance Berkman, Jeff Suppan, Jason Motte and So Taguchi.
Jon Jay, Larry Walker, Will Clark, Mike Matheny, Woody Williams, Fernando Vina, Jaime Garcia, Kyle Lohse, Michael Wacha, Skip Schumaker, Carlos Beltran, Jake Westbrook, Kyle McClellan, Jeff Weaver. Pat Hentgen, Joe McEwing, Ryan Ludwick, Tom Pagnozzi, Eric Davis.
Allen Craig, Trevor Rosenthal, Rafael Furcal, Dennis Eckersley, Fernando Tatis, Plus Ozzie Smith and Willie McGee, who were part of the team that reached the NLCS in La Russa’s first season (1996.) And we can never forget the immense value of pitching coach Dave Duncan, and instructor Jose Oquendo.
That era unofficially closed in 2022, when Pujols and Molina retired after an amazing farewell season. Wainwright pitched one more year, and retired after the 2023 season.
Molina was as important as anyone – and more important than most – in establishing a team ethos, a team code. Molina was a touchstone for younger Cardinals who came along and were expected to carry the traditions forward.
I’m sorry, but that ended when Pujols, Molina and Wainwright headed into retirement. There’s been a void – not just in talent, but in tone and identity.
On top of all that, we’ve lost some of the most cherished individuals in Cardinals history … men who gave this franchise such powerful and lasting eminence.
Beginning in 2013, we’ve mourned the deaths of Stan Musial, Bob Gibson, Lou Brock, Red Schoendienst, Whitey Herzog, Bruce Sutter, Tim McCarver, Jack Buck and Mike Shannon. George Kissell – beloved teacher of baseball and the keeper of the Cardinal Way book of fundamentals – passed away in 2008.
How do you replace that? Well, you can’t. But you have to remember these iconic figures, and honor them, and keep their names alive.
Molina is among the youngest in the distinguished collection of Cards’ greats who have retired. And when Molina, Pujols or Wainwright show up for a home game and spend time around the team, that’s a special occasion.
The Cardinals have suffered too many losses on the field – but that’s nothing compared to the losses of so many of their legends.
Yadier Molina has come for a visit. He’s the greatest catcher in franchise history … and also a living history museum.
By wanting to make such a visible return to Busch Stadium – his headquarters from 206 through 2022 – Molina is taking a step to restore the ties that bind.
To say that Busch was Molina’s workplace is an understatement. From 2006 through 2022, Molina played 1,045 regular-season games there. He won 619 regular-season games there. He competed in 44 postseason games there, winning 26 times.
Molina won two World Series there, rushing out to embrace Wainwright after the final out of the World Series clinching Game 5 in 2006, and he rushed out to hug Motte after the final out when the Cardinals won the World Series again in 2011.
This was Molina’s home base for nine Gold Glove seasons, four Platinum Glove seasons, nine All-Star seasons, one Silver Slugger season, and five different seasons of receiving National League MVP votes.
Molina also suffered hand, finger, knee and back injuries there. He suffered concussions there. And Busch Stadium was the location when Yadi got struck in a sensitive area by a nasty foul tip that hit him in the wrong place – and he lost a testicle.
How many gallons and gallons of sweat trickled from Molina’s body during those home games played during the sweltering peak of the St. Louis summer? There’s probably some traces of Molina blood in the dirt around home plate.
There is another aspect to Molina’s homecoming at Busch Stadium this weekend. After ending his playing career and taking a break from baseball, Molina agreed to join the Cardinals in an advisory role before the 2024 season. But he never showed up for the job.
Family reasons were a significant part of it, but Molina’s absence was notable – glaringly so – and sparked a lot of speculation about his desire to stay away instead of reporting to work for the Cardinals. assumed another factor was Molina's relationship with Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak, but as it turned out I was wrong about that. Mozeliak did everything he could to bring Molina back to his baseball family.
By appearing this weekend, Molina is putting any remnant of negative feelings aside. And he took the first step by reaching out to Mozeliak. That led to plans for a visit, initiated by Molina – and spot in the dugout, which Molina wanted. It took Marmol about one second to endorse the idea.
“Yadi reached out to ‘Mo’ and me, and told us he’d love to be in uniform,” Marmol told me Friday morning. “I had a one-word answer: ‘Absolutely.’ My door is always open, and it would be foolish to not take advantage of that opportunity of having him here when he wants to visit. Just having him sitting with me in the dugout is great for our players, and I know our fans will love it. Win-win for everybody. It’s an honor to have him with us.”
If you think Marmol is wary of Molina – who wants to manage – then you’d be wrong about that. The men are close. Their respect is mutual. When Molina retired, he presented Marmol with a surprise gift: a Rolex watch … a very expensive Rolex. Molina did it as a gesture of affection and appreciation, and a way of letting Marmol know how much he enjoyed playing for him in 2022 – and even before that when Oli coached under managers Mike Matheny and Mike Shildt. Marmol was deeply touched by Molina’s kindness.
Molina and Pujols want to manage, but they have no urge to throw knives at Marmol’s back. Both have been effusive in their praise of the Cardinals manager and have offered their help.
I don’t know if Molina’s first appearance at Busch Stadium since the Wainwright retirement ceremony at the end of 2023 will prompt cuckoo conspiracy theories, but in this day and age, anything’s possible.
Let me say this: if Marmol viewed Molina as any type of threat, he wouldn’t invite him to Busch Stadium to put on a uniform and sit in the dugout, and draw loud cheers and loving attention from Molina-worshipping Cardinals fans.
Marmol is secure in his own skin. There’s no reason to believe he’ll be sacked at the end of the 2025 season. That decision will be made by incoming president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom, and Marmol and Bloom have a good relationship. And even if Bloom is inclined to bring in a new manager – whenever that would be – it’s a mistake to assume the job would be offered to Pujols or Molina.
Bloom deserves to make his own decisions without being pressured by fans or media to base those decisions on nostalgia.
Nostalgia will be in the atmosphere Friday and Saturday. Fox Sports will televise Saturday’s Cubs-Cards matchup, with first pitch scheduled for 6:15 p.m. STL time. There will be Molina buzz in the pregame show, and more Molina buzzing during the game. And that’s good for Molina, who can use this weekend’s visibility to reaffirm his desire to manage a major-league team.
During his big-league playing career that began on June 3 of 2004, Molina played 250 games against the Cubs: 247 during the regular season, and three more in the 2015 playoffs. Molina was injured and couldn’t play in the fourth game of that 2015 NLDS battle between the intense rivals, and the Cubs won Game 4 to eliminate the Redbirds.
Maybe Molina has a score to settle? Probably not, but the thought of that makes me smile.
So in that spirit, I think the appropriate thing for Yadi to do with the North Siders in town this weekend is to take exception to some show of disrespect by a Cubs player, and charge onto the field to sound a warning: this behavior will not be tolerated in Molina’s House.
Hey, if Molina wants to rage at a showboating Pete Crow Armstrong from the top step of the St. Louis dugout, that would be fun. I think I’m kidding about that … but perhaps not.
That said, Molina’s presence among Cardinals’ players will let them know that this is a serious and special rivalry – and the young Redbirds must play these games with a hard competitive edge and fiery attitude.
Do you think it’s just a coincidence that Yadi decided to make his return to Busch Stadium for a weekend series against the Cubs, a team he fought against for 19 seasons?
Thanks for reading and I hope you have a tremendous weekend.
–Bernie
Bernie was inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in 2023. During a St. Louis sports-media career that goes back to 1985, he’s won multiple national awards for column writing and sports-talk hosting – and was the lead sports columnist at the Post-Dispatch from 1989 through 2015.
You can access his columns, videos and the podcast version of the videos here on STLSportsCentral, catch him weekdays on the “Gashouse Gang” or “Redbird Rush Hour” on KMOX, and he is a regular guest on the “Cardinal Territory” video show hosted by Katie Woo of The Athletic. Bernie happily does a weekly “Seeing Red” podcast on the Cardinals with his longtime pal Will Leitch. You can also catch Bernie every Friday morning (10:30 a.m.) as a guest on the Randy Karraker Show here on our site.