Paul Molitor: the playing days

February 22, 2015 at 12:54AM
Paul Molitor finally got his 3,000 hit in the fifth inning Monday night at Royals stadium against Kansas City. -- Molitor accepts the Royals Stadium crowdÌs applause while waiting for play to begin after hitting #3000. ORG XMIT: MIN2014110419400476 ORG XMIT: MIN1411041944354362
Paul Molitor finally got his 3,000 hit in the fifth inning Monday night at Royals stadium against Kansas City. -- Molitor accepts the Royals Stadium crowdÌs applause while waiting for play to begin after hitting #3000. ORG XMIT: MIN2014110419400476 ORG XMIT: MIN1411041944354362 (The Minnesota Star Tribune)

1974: After graduating from Cretin-Derham Hall High School, he was selected in the 28th round of the free-agent draft by St. Louis, but opted to attend the University of Minnesota.

1977: After three seasons with the Gophers, he was drafted by Milwaukee with the No. 3 overall pick. After signing, he batted .346 at Class A Burlington.

1978: After just one minor league season he won a job with the Brewers in spring training and batted .273 with 30 stolen bases.

1982: Helped lead the Brewers to the World Series, batting .303 and leading the league with 136 runs scored. The Brewers lost to St. Louis in seven games. Molitor batted .355, collecting Series-record five hits in Game 1.

1984: During the trial of a Milwaukee drug dealer, Molitor was named as a customer. He admitted a few months later that he had used cocaine and marijuana early in his career.

1986: Landed on the disabled list for the sixth time since 1980. He played in only 13 games in 1984 before undergoing elbow surgery.

1987: Hit in 39 straight games, the fifth longest streak in modern-day baseball — and the longest since Pete Rose hit in 44 straight games in 1978. He batted .353 for the season but played in only 118 games. Still led the league with 114 runs scored.

1991: Had one of his finest seasons with Milwaukee, batting .325 while leading the league in hits (216), runs (133) and triples (13).

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1992: In his final season as a Brewer, batted .320 with 31 stolen bases.

1993: Played on his only World Series championship team after signing with Toronto, winning the Series MVP award by batting .500 (12-for-24). He hit .332 with 111 RBI during the season, leading the league in hits with 211.

1996: After signing a free-agent deal with his hometown Twins, batted .341 with 113 RBI and a league-leading 225 hits, one of them the 3,000th of his career in September.

1997: He batted .305 in his second season with the Twins, the 12th time in his career he batted over .300.

1998: Retired after batting .281 with 69 RBI.


Paul Molitor, 1987 photo of the ending of his 39 game hitting streak. ORG XMIT: MIN2015022100134053
Paul Molitor, 1987 photo of the ending of his 39 game hitting streak. ORG XMIT: MIN2015022100134053 (The Minnesota Star Tribune)
Milwaukee Brewers batter Paul Molitor flips the stub of his broken bat back as he heads for first base in the fourth inning of the World Series, Tuesday, Oct. 12, 1982, St. Louis, Mo. Molitor drove in a run with the single, but was cut trying to stretch it into double. He set a new World Series record with five hits in the game. (AP Photo) ORG XMIT: APHS180810
Milwaukee Brewers batter Paul Molitor flips the stub of his broken bat back as he heads for first base in the fourth inning of the World Series, Tuesday, Oct. 12, 1982, St. Louis, Mo. Molitor drove in a run with the single, but was cut trying to stretch it into double. He set a new World Series record with five hits in the game. (AP Photo) ORG XMIT: APHS180810 (The Minnesota Star Tribune)
Paul Molitor, photo from his University of Minnesota days(mid 1970s) ORG XMIT: MIN2014062720125153
Paul Molitor, photo from his University of Minnesota days(mid 1970s) ORG XMIT: MIN2014062720125153 (The Minnesota Star Tribune)
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