RetroSimba

If the Reds had heeded the advice of Johnny Bench, Yadier Molina would have been their catcher.

A few days before the June 2000 baseball draft, the Reds brought Molina, 17, from his home in Puerto Rico to work out with other potential picks at Cincinnati’s Riverfront Stadium.

Among those observing the workouts for the club were two of the game’s most accomplished former catchers _ Hall of Famer Johnny Bench and Bob Boone, a special assistant to Reds general manager Jim Bowden.

From 1968 to 1979, Bench and Boone were the only National League catchers to earn Gold Glove awards. Bench got the honor in 10 consecutive years (1968-77). Boone was the recipient in 1978 and 1979. Boone also won five American League Gold Glove awards for catching (1982 and 1986-89).

The prospect Bench and Boone watched that day in Cincinnati would become their equal, earning nine National League Gold Glove honors as a catcher _ for the Cardinals, not the Reds.

Cincinnati kid

As a teen in Puerto Rico, Molina played in top amateur leagues as well as on the high school team and took pride in finding ways to outsmart opponents. “That’s part of my game _ pay attention to the little details and try to take advantage,” he told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Molina also benefitted from having a baseball family. His father, Benjamin, was a renowned youth coach. Two brothers, Bengie with the Angels and Jose with the Cubs, reached the majors as catchers.

Based on his performance at the workout in Cincinnati, Molina seemed headed for the Reds. In an interview with Stan McNeal for the 2019 Cardinals Yearbook, Molina recalled how pleased he was in Cincinnati to be timed throwing from home plate to second base in 1.7 seconds.

“I was like, ‘Oh, man, Cincinnati is going to draft me,’ ” Molina said to McNeal. “I started reading books about Cincinnati when I got home.”

Hawaiian punch

Instead of Molina, the catcher the Reds drafted, in the second round, was Dane Sardinha, 21, a Pepperdine University junior from Hawaii.

Recalling his reaction, Molina told Cardinals Yearbook, “I was like, yeah, Cincinnati is going to pay.”

Jim Bowden and Reds scouting director De Jon Watson were convinced Sardinha was nearly ready for the majors. Bowden told The Cincinnati Post he rated Sardinha as one of the top 15 players available in the draft. “Sardinha is the best catcher drafted since Charles Johnson (by the Marlins in 1992),” Bowden said.

Bob Boone told the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, “Sardinha can catch and throw in the big leagues right now. He is as advanced defensively as an catcher I’ve seen in the three years I’ve been here (with Cincinnati).”

Apparently, one who disagreed with the choice was Johnny Bench. Though asked for his advice, Bench didn’t have a front office role. Molina said to Cardinals Yearbook, “Johnny Bench told me, ‘I told them to draft you, but they never listen to me.’ “

Risky business

Nine catchers were drafted before the Cardinals selected Molina in the fourth round. Catchers chosen ahead of Molina were:

_ First round: Scott Heard (Rangers), Dave Parrish (Yankees).

_ Second round: Mike Tonis (Royals), Sardinha (Reds), Jared Abruzzo (Angels).

_ Third round: Scott Walter (Royals), Omar Falcon (Padres), Tommy Arko (Orioles), Sean Swedlow (Indians).

Only two of those nine _ Tonis and Sardinha _ reached the majors. Tonis played in two games for the Royals. Sardinha played in two games for the Reds, then was a backup for the Tigers and Phillies. In 59 games in the majors, Sardinha hit .166.

The Cardinals chose four players _ outfielder Shaun Boyd, pitchers Blake Williams and Chris Narveson, and shortstop Chase Voshell _ before drafting Molina. Of those four, only Narveson reached the majors. He never won a game for the Cardinals and spent most of his career with the Brewers.

Molina was the 113th player taken overall in the draft. “With catching particularly weak in the Cardinals’ farm system,” the Post-Dispatch noted, Molina was one of three catchers chosen by the club in the first 12 rounds. The others were Dan Moylan and Rodney Friar. John Mozeliak, then the Cardinals’ scouting director, said of Molina to reporter Stu Durando, “With his arm and catching ability, he’s fairly well-advanced.”

Wise investment

Three months after being drafted, Molina and the Cardinals hadn’t come to terms. As Mozeliak recalled to MLB.com, a Cardinals scout, Steve Turco, called him and said, “What’s the issue here? … Give him anything he wants.”

Molina signed for $325,000 and reported to the Cardinals in 2001. Under the guidance of minor-league catching instructor Dave Ricketts _ “My angel,” Molina told the Post-Dispatch _ he developed rapidly while playing for Johnson City (Tenn.) of the Appalachian League.

In August 2001, Mike Eisenbath of the Post-Dispatch wrote, “Keep an eye on Yadier Molina … His defensive work behind the plate has drawn raves. Pitchers rarely shake him off, and he has been adept at blocking balls in the dirt and throwing out runners.”

According to USA Today, when Cardinals starting catcher Mike Matheny saw Molina in the club’s major-league camp at spring training for the first time, he went home and told his wife, “I just saw the kid who (is) going to eventually take my job.”

Molina debuted with the Cardinals in June 2004 as a backup to Matheny. He hit .313 against the Reds that year and played in the World Series. When Matheny departed to the Giants, Molina became the Cardinals’ everyday catcher in 2005. He switched from uniform No. 41 to No. 4 the following year.

Generational talent

Molina made good on his promise to make the Reds pay for not drafting him. He totaled more home runs (28) and more RBI (127) against the Reds than he did versus any other club.

During Molina’s 19 seasons, the Cardinals won four National League pennants and two World Series titles. The Reds won none during that time and some of their fans took out their frustrations on him.

As Stan McNeal of Cardinals Yearbook put it, “No city in baseball has been less welcoming to Yadier Molina than Cincinnati, where No. 4 is Public Enemy No. 1.”

In remarks to Hal McCoy of the Dayton Daily News, Reds second baseman Brandon Phillips said of the Cardinals in 2010, “All they do is bitch and moan about everything, all of them. They’re little bitches … I really hate the Cardinals.”

The next night, when he stepped into the batter’s box, Phillips used his bat to tap Molina’s shin guards. Molina responded angrily, both benches emptied and the fight carried to the backstop.

Five years later, when Molina arrived at Cincinnati for the 2015 All-Star Game, he was assigned a locker in the Reds’ clubhouse used by Phillips. According to the Associated Press, Molina laughed and said, “It’s funny. You think they did that on purpose? I don’t mind. He’s a great ballplayer.”

When the Cincinnati crowd booed Molina during player introductions before the game, he laughed, turned his back and pointed with his thumbs to the name on his jersey. Video

In April 2018, while playing in Cincinnati, Molina moved ahead of Johnny Bench for career innings caught.

From 2004 to 2022, the time Molina played for the Cardinals, the Reds went through an array of starting catchers: Jason LaRue, David Ross, Paul Bako, Ryan Hanigan, Ramon Hernandez, Devin Mesoraco, Brayan Pena, Tucker Barnhart and Tyler Stephenson. The best of the bunch was Barnhart, who won two National League Gold Glove awards (2017 and 2020).

Barnhart told Derrick Goold of the Post-Dispatch in 2018, “I look up to Yadi. He’s a guy that I try to pattern every single part of my game after. I respect the hell out of him … As a catcher, that’s the poster guy that we look for.”

Mike Matheny said his generation spoke about Johnny Bench the way Barnhart spoke about Molina, Goold reported.

Two decades after Bench first saw Molina in that workout at Cincinnati, the torch _ one with a gold glove clutching it _ had been passed.

In assessing Molina, Hall of Fame catcher Ted Simmons said to Bob Nightengale of USA Today, “He’s defensively the best catcher I’ve ever seen … He’s as good a catcher as anyone who played the game … I can’t imagine anyone being more valuable to a team. He had the intellect of an engineer. He was the perfect extension of a manager’s intent … It was like having a Tony La Russa on the field the way he handled everything.”