Thursday, September 12, 2013

Up For Grabs Cardinalpalooza: Yadier Molina


Previously on the Cardinalpalooza: Allen CraigStan MusialRick AnkielDavid Freese | Keith Hernandez | Steve Carlton | Lance Berkman | Lou Brock | Dennis Eckersley | Bob Gibson

Last call for Bob Gibson, whose cards are going to be sent away via Listia as soon as I get around to it (not before this weekend.) I really meant for this Cardinalpalooza thing to be a summer thing, something to get me through the slog when I am short on time and long on cards. With summer ending in a week and a half(ish), though, I'm afraid there's gonna be a few more batches of these kinds of posts.


You could make a convincing argument that Yadier Molina is the most valuable player in the game, as one of the core offensive cogs of a Cardinals team and with his stellar track record with the glove. And you might actually be selling the man short. His handling of pitchers is a major factor of why the Cardinals have continued to have a lot of success with their staff in the post-Dave Duncan era.


It's old news that Yadi's offense has caught up with his defensive game, and it really shouldn't be much of a surprise. The guy is smart. Erin cringes every time her favorite player's lack of speed on the basepaths is brought up, and yet Molina still remains an asset any time he's involved with a play. He'll even steal on you if your pitcher or catcher is not paying attention. It feels like he learned from one of the best, another lumbering force named Albert Pujols.


Molina is finally getting some recognition from sports card manufacturers as well. It's fairly unusual for catchers to have a lot of cards, unless they're an elite name, but Yadi is finally getting some due in the form of inserts and other such star treatment.


Yadi (and older brother hitting coach Bengie) missed tonight's game due to an undisclosed family issue, so our thoughts are with the Molina family.

The list:

2005 Playoff Prestige #152
2005 Topps Total #26
2006 Fleer Ultra #41 [2 available]
2006 Fleer Ultra Gold Medallion #41
2006 Topps #339 [5 available]
2006 Topps Update (Postseason Highlights w/ Endy Chavez) #UH193
2007 Fleer #47 [5 available]
2007 Fleer Ultra Retail #151 [5 available]
2007 Topps #660 [5 available]
2008 Topps #660 [4 available]
2008 Topps Chrome #170 [2 available]
2008 Upper Deck #66 [4 available]
2009 Bowman #187 [2 available]
2009 Topps #172 [5 available]
2009 Topps Update (All-Star) #UH14 [6 available]
2009 Upper Deck #356 [4 available]
2009 Upper Deck #882 [2 available]
2009 Upper Deck (Award Winners) #959 [2 available]
2010 Bowman #78
2010 Topps #476 [2 available]
2010 Topps When They Were Young #WTWY-YM
2010 Topps Chrome #161
2010 Upper Deck #466
2011 Topps #90 [4 available]
2011 Topps Gypsy Queen #165
2011 Topps Opening Day #46 [2 available]
2012 Bowman #18
2012 Topps #174
2012 Topps Update (All-Star) #US273
2012 Topps Gypsy Queen #41
2012 Topps Opening Day #154
2013 Topps #4
2013 Topps Opening Day #141

[updated 10/2/13]

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