Paul Molitor Gets Hit Number 3000 on September 16, 1996

On this day in Baseball History September 16, 1996: Three years to the day when Dave Winfield hit his 3000th hit, Paul Molitor of the Minnesota Twins becomes the first member of the 3000th hit club to do so by hitting a triple in the top of the fifth innings against pitcher Jose Rosado of Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City. In doing so, Molitor became the 21st member of the 3,000 hit club. The boxscore of the September 16, 1996 game between the Minnesota Twins and Kansas City Royals is from The 3,000 Hit Club exhibit of the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Here is the 3,000 hit club at the time Molitor joined the club:

1. Unknown Cap Anson
2. 06/09/1914 Honus Wagner
3. 09/27/1914 Nap Lajoie (first game of the doubleheader)
4. 08/19/1921 Ty Cobb (second game of the doubleheader)
5. 05/17/1925 Tris Speaker
6. 06/03/1925 Eddie Collins
7. 06/19/1942 Paul Waner
8. 05/13/1958 Stan Musial
9. 05/17/1970 Hank Aaron (second game of the doubleheader)
10. 07/18/1970 Willie Mays
11. 09/30/1972 Roberto Clemente
12. 09/24/1974 Al Kaline
13. 05/05/1978 Pete Rose
14. 08/13/1979 Lou Brock
15. 09/12/1979 Carl Yastrzemski
16. 08/04/1985 Rod Carew
17. 09/09/1992 Robin Yount
18. 09/30/1992 George Brett
19. 09/16/1993 Dave Winfield
20. 06/30/1995 Eddie Murray

Molitor would finish his career with 3,319 hits and currently sits at number ten on the All-Time hit list. Molitor would retire after the 1998 season and would be inducted to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2004 with 85.2% of the vote (431/506 ballots).

Molitor would join long time teammate Robin Yount both on the 3,000 hits club and in the Hall of Fame. Yount joined the 3,000 hit club in 1992 and the Hall of Fame in 1999.

According to pages 128-129 of the book The 50 Most Dynamic Duos in Sports History: Baseball, Basketball, Football, and Hockey (2012) by Robert W. Cohen:

In their 15 years of teammates, Yount and Molitor combined for 4,736 hits and 2,605 runs scored. Those 4,736 hits represent the third-highest total even compiled by two teammates (Honus Wagner and Fred Clarke amassed 5,279 hits for the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1987-1915 and Paul and Lloyd Waner tallied 4,994 safeties for that same franchise from 1927-1940). Between them Yount and Molitor appeared in a total of eight All-Star Games as members of the Brewers. They placed in the league's top five in runs scored a total of eight times and finished in the top five in hits a total of 10 times.

Will we ever see a pair of teammates come up virtually at the same time and put up the consistent numbers that Robin Yount and Paul Molitor did for 15 season? Its hard to say with the way free agency and player trades work today. I guess we will have to wait and see if that can happen within the next generation of young players coming up in the league.

Until Then Keep Playing Ball,
Baseball Sisco
#baseballsisco
#baseballsiscokidstyle

For Further Reading:

- Click here to access Paul Molitor's career statistics from Baseball Reference.com
- Click here to access Robin Yount's career statistics from Baseball Reference.com

Three Players Who Are The Team Leaders in Total Hits Doubles Triples AND Homers For One Franchise

My good friend Pete and I do alot of Baseball trivia during the season and last night the first question came out. As I get them, I'll write a post profiling the question and answer(s). Here is the first question:

Three Players Who Are The Team Leaders in Total Hits, Doubles, Triples AND Homers For One Franchise. 

Now I thought about it and immediately thought about who ranks on top of the list in hits and homers and immediately said Hank Aaron. Pete just shook his head. Willie Mays was my next guess and again a head shake. I also thought about which younger franchises in the league could have one player hold the franchise record in singles, doubles, triples AND homeruns but nothing came to mind. Then Pete gave me a hint:

Each player only played for ONE team during their career

The first player immediately came to mind. Hall of Famer George Brett was the first correct answer. In 21 seasons with the Kansas City Royals, Brett hit a total of 3,154 hits with 665 doubles, 137 triples and 317 home runs. The nearest players to Brett in hits is Frank White at 2,006. In doubles it is Hal McRae at 449. In triples Willie Wilson is second with 133. In homers Mike Sweeney is at 197. Unless one of the new Royals players like Moustakas or Hosmer plays their entire career with the Royals, it seems that Brett's place atop the Royals hits, doubles, triples and homers list is safe.

- Click Here to Access George Brett's Career Statistics from Baseball Reference.com
- Click Here to Access a sortable list of the Kansas City Royals career leaders by category

Something told me that number two would be a contemporary of Brett's who also played for one team during their career. After briefly flirting with Pete Rose (Rose played for Cincinnati, Philadelphia and Montreal), I took a stab in the dark with the guess of Robin Yount which got a resounding "Yes" from Pete.

Hall of Famer Robin Yount played 20 seasons with the Milwaukee Brewers. Yount hit a total of 3,142 hits with 582 doubles, 126 triples and 251 homers. The nearest players to Young in hits is fellow Hall of Famer Paul Molitor with 2,281. Molitor also follows Yount in doubles (405) and triples (86). In terms of home runs, second to Yount on the All-Time Brewers list is Prince Fielder who has 230. Yount is in jeopardy of falling from this trivia list since Ryan Braun is rapidly approaching the 251 home run plateau. He currently sits at 203 and it would be safe to say barring any major injury that Braun will reach 251 next season.

- Click Here to Access Robin Yount's Career Statistics from Baseball Reference.com
- Click Here to Access a sortable list of the Milwaukee Brewers career leaders by category

The last one on the list proved to be much harder especially when Pete gave me a last hint:

He played for one of the classic teams not a newer team. 

Now this would prove to be a bit more difficult. My mind gravitated to Babe Ruth but remembered that Derek Jeter is the Yankees All-Time hits leader and Babe played for more teams than just the Yankees. I thought about Ty Cobb of the Detroit Tigers but he doesn't lead the franchise in home runs (Al Kaline does). So after a few minutes of "flipping baseball cards in my head" (When I think about different Ballplayers, I see them as Baseball cards in my head), I nailed the correct answer on the nose.

The third player is none other than Stan "The Man" Musial of the St. Louis Cardinals.The recently deceased Hall of Famer hit a total of 3,630 hits with 722 doubles, 177 triples and 477 homeruns in 22 seasons. The nearest players to Musial on the Cardinals All-Time hit list is Lou Brock with 2,713. In terms of doubles Albert Pujols had 455 as a Cardinal. In terms of triples Rogers Hornsby follows Musial with 143. Albert Pujols trails Musial with 445 homers. With the departure of Pujols to the Angels last season, Musial's place at the top of each category seems to be safe.

- Click Here to Access Stan Musial's Career Statistics from Baseball Reference.com
- Click Here to Access a sortable list of The St. Louis Cardinals career leaders by category

So there you have it. I have a bunch of other trivia questions that I will be turning into blog posts during the upcoming season. Have a trivia question for me? Email me, Tweet it to me @BaseballSisco, or post it to my Facebook page Baseball Sisco Kid Style. I look forward to being stumped by you all.

Sisco Kid