I didn’t say “biggest” moment as St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina is just 26 years old, with years of baseball excitement and accomplishments still ahead of him. Steadily improving as a hitter, quietly moving up the Cardinals batting order each year and already the game’s best defender at his position, the sky is the limit for the Puerto Rican.
On Monday evening, manager Jose Oquendo’s Team Puerto Rico was clearly “in dutch” with the Dutch. With less than two innings remaining, his club was down 1-0 and en route to an embarrassing and potentially damaging defeat at the hands of a lightly-regarded Netherlands team.
Up stepped Molina to the plate with the bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth inning. Always a player to be relied upon in tough situations, the catcher came through again as he shot a two-run double sharply down the left field line and into the corner.
After the Puerto Ricans won the game by a 3-1 score, advancing to the second round of the WBC, cameras focused on Molina. Normally a stoic sort, his grin was so wide it put the late Heath Ledger’s portrayal of Batman’s nemesis The Joker to shame.
In this case, however, the only people who saw Molina as a bad guy were the citizens of the Netherlands.
The big hit evoked memories of 2006, as the Cardinals were on the verge of being eliminated from the NLCS by the New York Mets. Molina’s two-run home run saved the Cardinals season and propelled them into the World Series.
One of the most divisive issues across baseball this spring is this second World Baseball Classic. Fans either love the competition or see it as a major distraction to preparation for the 2009 MLB season.
What many Americans do not seem to understand or appreciate is how important this WBC is to these players and to the nations of the world. At a time when baseball seems to be losing ground in terms of overall popularity, this tournament draws global attention to the game like no other event could.
Molina is the only Cardinals front-line player in the 2009 WBC, playing for his homeland. The youngest of the three catching Molina brothers wouldn’t have it any other way. In fact, his comments after his winning hit Monday placed this event ahead of his 2006 Mets’-killing blow.
“To play before your family, before your own people, there are very different emotions than playing a World Series before almost 50,000 people. It is really exciting, but here in front of your own people, your family. I believe this is my World Series and I enjoy it more here,” Molina excitedly said.
That doesn’t make Molina any less of a St. Louis Cardinal or any less committed to his professional duties. It does however underline the importance of these games to the players.
Personally, I am disappointed that some MLB clubs openly discourage their players from participating and serving as worldwide ambassadors for the game in the process. No, the timing isn’t ideal, but there isn’t a better time. Sure, players risk injury, just as they do in spring training.
With the Olympics having decertified baseball, these games stand alone as the true Series of the World.
The memory of what happened Monday night will be with Molina forever.
“It’s one of the greatest moments of my life. The double that I hit tonight is going to be in my heart all my life,” Molina exclaimed.
Good for him. Good for baseball.
There can be a similar uneasiness between ML teams and veteran players when it comes to playing winter ball. It seems important to them and to cultivating baseball in their home societies.
During the previous WBC, Molina was backing up Pudge Rodriguez. Now it is Yadier’s turn to take a bow.
Pretty exciting for Yadi and “The Secret Weapon” .
It is too bad that the timing of the tournament has to come during spring training. The powers that be will probably never change it , but I still think if it could be scheduled after the MLB playoffs, it would be better for everyone.
chief, with the World Series possibly again running into early November, we are talking about WBC finals that would be a challenge to complete by Thanksgiving. What about all the other players whose seasons ended long before November, especially the world players? That is a time of the year many are resting for the next season. Instead, this would require them to try to stay in playing shape for another month or two after their seasons normally end. Not to mention interrupting the winter ball seasons in many of the Caribbean nations which are underway by November.
There is no good time. After considering everything, I have come to the conclusion that the current time is the best of a bunch of bad times.
It’s nice these guys can play for their “home” countries (Puerto Rico being a bit unusual as a U.S. territory). But I have a hard time caring about anything other than St. Louis baseball. I also have more than a little bit of trouble viewing a U.S. citizen as having allegiance to another country, whether it be in wartime or in sports. Additionally (if further critique is needed on the WBC) the flimsy rules for who can play for what team kind of makes the whole thing a bit of a charade. Olympic team sports have gotten this way too since open pros have been added to their rosters.
The Philippenes (sp?) was able to become an independant nation. Maybe Puerto Rico will choose to do the same someday. Or maybe it will someday choose to become a State. I am flying down there tomorrow and will report back.
Huge hit on a hanging curve ball. A nice at bat. PR was looking at playing the DOMINICAN’s in the losers bracket. Always bad.
The Dominicans have a heckuva team but just think of the guys not on their roster: Pujols, V. Guerrero, Manny Ramirez, A-Rod and F. Liriano just to name a few.
The move, Mather to LF, Barden to third in todays game is interesting. I believe you may see that to begin the season. Tony isn’t going to over expose Chris who is rolling. If he is allowed to rakes too deeply, Mo may be tempted to trade some of this bounty of lawn tools. Tony knows that. The delicate dance of “Colby makes the team, or else” goes on.
Good stuff, Brian
All the caterwauling about the scheduling is quite a bit annoying considering they only do this every three years (maybe every four after this one) and that the spring training in these seasons allows teams a longer look at younger players, and affords older players a little more time to work out the aches and pains.
This edition of the WBC has been especially good because of the success of the teams from the Netherlands, Australia and Italy. Their inclusion seemed a desperate ploy to fill out the brackets in 2006, but this time around they’ve proved that they are developing. Maybe these upsets will compel some of the missing all-stars to be a little more passionate about the Series of the World. The Korea/Japan rivalry is great – it’s personal with those guys.
If Duncan is healthy, I want him in the lineup vs. righties getting at least three AB’s. He can really add to the offense.
I think they’ve moved Mather to the outfield a few times this Spring in moves like today.
Tony is active today, exploring April combinations. Using Franklin in a fragmented inning, (Closer) Miller in also up front. He didn’t put Barton in left and let Mather work on defense for a reason. Barton against weak pitching could create confusion. Tony is grooming for the personnel he wants.
He’s been doing it all Spring. Thurston has played all over the place, Mather has been in the OF, Barden is a candidate at third. There’s no conspiracy, there’s no big secret. There are people auditioning for jobs, just like every year.
I do not believe you will see those guys starting, however, you can bet, with a lead after the 7th TLR will have someone coming in for Skip at 2nd and possibly for Mather at third for defensive purposes.
I went back through the box scores for earlier games. Mather has made the move from third base directly to the outfield three times and once went from 3B to 1B to LF. He also entered another game as a pinch hitter and remained in center field.
His likely job for the 2009 Cardinals after Glaus returns will be as a utility guy that can play first, third and all three OF spots. Until then, he is getting plenty of chances at third.
As for Duncan not being over-exposed, I don’t think you can have it both ways, WC. You claimed TLR was trying to over-expose Rasmus by letting him go 0-6 but if Duncan goes 2-2 he pulls him so he is not over-exposed? What if Dunc had gone 0-2? Would he have left him in there?
The good news is the metal disk in Duncan’s neck works.
I hope none of these lads are exposed or over-exposed. Under-exposed, I am unsure. It would have to be very, very under.
Speaking of exposure, did anyone else notice the timing of the Cardinals first 15 cuts on Sunday? Few clubs have started doing so yet, but especially given TLRs complaint of not having enough pitchers, seeing nine of them sent to minor league camp relatively quickly afterward surprised me a bit.
Agreed Brian, the game is at hand. That was Mo’s call I would think, to split early.. Why have Freeze get hot for a few days and create confusion. Mo creating some limitations on Tony’s pallet. Mo is thinking trades, Barton, Ludwick, Chris, all vulnerable. I think Rick is here till July for a reevaluation at that time. He is advertising. Barton isn’t going to be given a chance. That makes Chris more vulnerable, and also threatens Colby. Thats not to anyones liking.
I think there are plenty of pitchers in camp now that the starters are getting stretched out a little. With five NRI’s still there, there should be enough arms to cover the necessary innings. if something weird happens, there’s plenty of help on those back fields.
As for Freese, he just suffered some bad luck and figures to get his work in with the kids. He’s another of the NRI’s anyway. If he starts pounding the ball against minor leaguers, he can trot over ands play with the big boys.
Every Spring, every major league team goes through what is happening right now with the Cardinals. There’s no reason to think that somebody is up there with puppet strings or there is evil lurking in every shadow. The roster will end up with 25 guys and there will be a couple of tough decisions, just like there are every year.
I too noticed Tony lobbied for pitchers in a strange way. Trey Hearne apparently provided peace of mind. Then TLR got rid of a passle. It seems contradictory, save for Dizzys point that all the minor leaguers are available anytime, so the mystery is happily resolved.
Releasing Kennedy makes more and more sense. It would have been odd to have him on the bench watching Skip learning 2B.
He’s gone jumbo, because Skippy could never have expected to be the second baseman with a better player behind him. He isn’t there yet. There has been very little real game pressure. Its coming! Kennedy’s release only makes sense if you except the evaluative parameters of “the conspiracy”. Skips has a very real chance of folding. If he does, that will set in to motion all sorts of activity.
Adam’s release makes sense to me, even though I do not accept the conspiracy, in all its evaluative parameters.
Adam Ottavino will back from the WBC pretty soon. He three three shutout innings today against Venezuela, striking out three, walking one and allowing one hit. I didn’t get to see him pitch bu the ESPN announcers were raving about his performance, a big guy with a big arm. He threw 50 pitches.
Ottavino could put some pressure on the Memphis rotation.
Conspiracy = a protracted, opinionated negotiation between one faction’s preferences as opposed to a second faction’s opinions and preferences without breaching the definition of their collective whole.
I don’t know is I agree with this definitions, but I will mail it to Websters if it works for you. Spare me the ” there ain’t no factions WC retort. If thats all that you can find Jumbo, let silence prevail.
I wish somebody on this thread would let silence prevail about factions and I’m lookin’ at you, WC.
There are not factions, rather there is competition for roster slots. Competition, not conspiracy.
Rasmus will probably spend half the year at Memphis, he is not being forced on TLR nor is not being rejected by TLR.
Ryan, Barden, Thurston, Hoffpauir, Barton, Jay, Greene,Craig may be competing for 4 slots.
I suppose three IFs like Ryan, Barden, and Thurston could all make the team, because Skip and Joe can provide OF depth. TLR must like the idea of Joe and Skip as IF/OFs.
I’m all for the WBC. More players get a chance to show off their stuff and the fans get to watch more quality baseball. Anyone who didn’t enjoy last Saturday’s 6-5 nail biter between the USA and Canada doesn’t enjoy baseball.
…and the Netherlands beats the Dominicans again! Cards’ farmhand Curtis Smith played a big role in the win. he pinch hit with a runner on second and nobody out in the bottom of the tenth, down 1-0 and hit the ball sharply up the middle against Carlos Marmol to move the runner to third. He then scored on a single by Kingsale, who atoned for his poor play that allowed the DR to score in the top of the frame. Marml then threw the ball wildly past first, allowing Kingsale to move to third and he scored on an error by Willy Aybar. It’s nice to see a Cub get the goat horns while a Redbird contributes to a win.
Study your owner! He values secure investments. He is looking out for his interests. Jum, if you think he isn’t going to get 4milloin dollars worth of “something” out of the Kennedy maneuver, you would be wrong*. ……… If you think he is going to watch Tony devalue a 4 million dollar Ludwick, by platooning with Duncan like 08, you would be wrong…………. The Shumaker game is bound to come to an end before opening day. He will be playing outfield. Someone is going to get traded before they turn into a 4 million dollar bench ornament.
* hemlock for Tony, or the Colby guarantee.
One added thing. The SI article with Albert saying,”you can believe in me,” is just a little bit opportunistic maybe, as a response to the A-Rod situation, and maybe showing a slightly more complex Albert than your used too? Go ahead and tell me you’ve got Albert pegged.
Wow, with Dizzy’s Curtis Smith salute, he claims first place in the race to be positive about the Cardinals.
WC: we squeeze assets, so release of Kennedy was unusual. There is no money to be made out of something like that. Its just a loss, pure and simple, as was early release of Spiezio a year ago. There will be no $4MM bench ornament, and probably no trade.
I already have complex understanding of Albert. Albert is deep.
I am really sick of the steroids story. Someone was pointing out yesterday that Bill James found four or five factors have contributed to higher runs scored since the early nineties. Only one of those factors was steroid use. Pujols, unfortunately, is being positioned as “denying” steroid use. But he shouldn’t have to deny anything. If someone has evidence of usage, let him produce it. Until then, he shouldn’t even dignify these accusations by responding to them, even obliquely.
Curt Smith had a fine AB against one of the nastiest pitchers in baseball, Marmol. I can see why he doesn’t get much love as a prospect. He isn’t very big and he’s a right-handed hitting first baseman. He better find another position to play otherwise he will likely end up being a John Gall type.
Smith also has the misfortune to be playing the same position as the one player on the Netherlands team with a big league pedigree, Randall Simon. That AB was his first of the tournament.
Yes, I saw the at-bat, too. He almost had a hit up the middle. A nice showing for Smith. It looks like he will be reporting to minor league camp a week or so later than expected.
Charlie Steiner’s last comment as South Africa grounded out for the last out of their game against Mexico was “Mexico is on their way to San Diego.” Uh, Charlie, Mexico has already taken over San Diego as well as Los Angeles.
By the way, for anybody that you know that may suffer from insomnia, I highly recommend any Charlie Steiner telecast of a baseball game. He’s a little (not much) better on radio.
p.s. How in the world does “Los Angeles” fail spell check.
Curt Smith played middle infield his first three seasons at U of Maine. He must have gotten un-nifty with the glove and moved to 1B as a senior. Smith will likely be well served to try to convert back to 2B to rise high as a pro. However, the Cards have a wealth of 2B candidates, so competition will be stiff.
When I was in Puerto Rico for a few days, the front page of the local papers seemed to feature a photograph of baseball. This helps explain why there have been many fine ML players from the Enchanted Isle and explain the value of the WBC. The game is culturally important within PR.
In a bookstore I saw book on Clemente. It showed a display of his baseball cards. For about 15 years, he was called Bob Clemente! Only the last 3 or 4 cards labelled him as Roberto.