Molitor finished second in the American League Rookie of the Year race in 1978, to Trammell’s teammate and another (hopefully) future Hall of Famer, Lou Whitaker.
Molitor put in a wonderful rookie year, hitting .273 with 73 runs scored and 30 stolen bases, over 125 games and 521 at-bats.
Of course, all he’d do the rest of the way was put in 21 seasons of All-Star baseball, topping 200 hits four times, 100 runs five times, batting over .300 12 times, and finishing up with over 3000 hits, a .300 avergae, 600 doubles and just under 1800 runs scored.
I was always mesmerized by the seasons he put in the 1990’s, as it seemed like he got BETTER in his 30’s, shaking the injury-bug, driving in 100 runs for the only two times in his career, collecting three of the four 200-hit seasons and topping a .320 batting average five times!
The man was incredible.
I can only imagine what his final stats would have been had he not missed about three seasons worth of playing time earlier in his career.
Nevertheless, he was a cinch for the Hall of Fame, getting elected on his first year of eligibility in 2004.
