RetroSimba

Bengie Molina, brother of catcher Yadier Molina, was the assistant hitting coach of the Cardinals in 2013. He took over for John Mabry, who was promoted to hitting coach on manager Mike Matheny’s staff when Mark McGwire departed for a job with the Dodgers.

As a player, Bengie Molina was a free swinger who accomplished a couple of amazing hitting feats.

In 13 seasons with the Angels, Blue Jays, Giants and Rangers, Bengie Molina had 1,317 hits and a .274 batting average.

On May 7, 2007, he matched a feat last achieved by a Giants legend when he hit two home runs in an inning against the Mets at San Francisco.

In the fifth inning, Molina hit a drive off starter Oliver Perez that a spectator attempted to catch. It appeared the ball went through the fan’s outstreched arms, hit the top of the wall and bounced onto the field. Despite the Mets’ protests, umpire Mark Wegner granted Molina a home run, ruling the ball had hit the fan and would have cleared the wall without such contact.

After the Giants scored six runs, Molina came up for the second time in the inning and hit a three-run home run against reliever Lino Urdaneta. Boxscore

Molina became the first Giants player to hit two home runs in an inning since Willie McCovey did it 30 years earlier on June 27, 1977, against the Reds at Cincinnati. Boxscore

“I’m not a home run hitter,” Molina said to the San Francisco Chronicle.

Said Giants manager Bruce Bochy: “Bengie is a good hitter. He uses the whole field and he has power … This guy knows what he’s doing with a bat.”

Three years later, while with the Rangers, Molina performed another hitting feat. On July 16, 2010, Molina hit for the cycle at Boston. What made the achievement so unusual was the heavy-footed catcher legged out a triple in his final at-bat.

After he singled in the second, doubled in the fourth and hit a grand slam in the fifth, Molina came up in the eighth against reliever Ramon Ramirez and drove a pitch to center field. As center fielder Eric Patterson raced to the warning track and reached up for the ball, it tipped his glove and darted into the deepest part of the Fenway Park outfield. Molina saw the ball carom away from the outfielder and decided to try for the triple.

“It makes you happy for the guy who’s probably the slowest guy in the world, who’s been criticized for speed his whole career,” Molina said to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Boxscore

Molina became the first opposing player to hit for the cycle at Fenway Park since Andre Thornton of the Indians did it on April 22, 1978. Boxscore Molina also was the first major-league catcher to achieve the cycle since Chad Moeller of the Brewers did it on April 27, 2004, against the Reds at Milwaukee. Boxscore

Molina was the eighth big-league player to hit a grand slam while achieving the cycle.

Previously: Like Lonnie Smith, Bengie Molina is no World Series stranger