Yadier Molina has been a fixture for the St. Louis Cardinals ever since he arrived on the scene in June of 2004.
Molina made his MLB debut on June 3 of that year and did so at PNC Park in Pittsburgh.
Fast forward to 2022 and Molina is in his final year in the big leagues after a long and successful career.
Yesterday, he and the Cardinals were playing the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC, where it all started for Molina.
Cardinals writer Derrick Goold shared an interesting fact after yesterday’s game, that the Cards have played a total of 2,900 games since Molina made his debut, and they have only been out of postseason contention for 24 of them.
Working on some projects for @stltoday that will drop in the weeks to come, and updated research Elias once did:
As of Sunday, #stlcards have played 2,900 games since Yadier Molina made his MLB debut in 2004.
They’ve been out of playoff contention in 24.
Total.
— Derrick Goold (@dgoold) September 12, 2022
Coming Full Circle
Molina is one of many greats in the history of Cardinals baseball.
He’s been a major part of what has made this team so great for as they have been.
Along with Adam Wainwright and Albert Pujols, Molina has won two World Series rings in St. Louis.
Since he came up, Molina has been one of the best catchers the game has ever seen.
He’s been a part of so many great Cardinals teams and has been around for some of the team’s most historic moments.
But the fact that the Cardinals have only been out of contention for 24 of those 2,900 games is crazy.
It also goes to show what Molina has meant to the Cardinals organization and how he embodies the mission of the team and the spirit of St. Louis.
He’s been around forever and has been one of the key factors in their success.
The 40-year-old catcher will make one final stop in Pittsburgh before the end of the regular season.
