The Catching Molinas...

Remember "The Flying Wallendas"? They were a famous circus and stunt act when I was growing up, probably best remembered for their patriarch's death in a fall from the high wire in the 1970's

Several years ago I was at a Sox-Angels game when the catcher for Los Angeles California Anaheim Los Angeles of Anaheim, noted slowpoke Bengie Molina, was removed for a pinch runner. After the side was retired, another Molina - younger brother Jose - popped out of the dugout and entered the game to catch.

"I wonder", I said to the friend with whom I was attending the game, "how many more of those Molinas they've got in the dugout?"

"Don't laugh", he replied, "there's another brother in the minors, and he's a catcher too!"

"Hmm, 'The Catching Molinas', eh? Sounds like a vaudeville act or something at the circus. Like 'The Flying Wallendas'"

Thus piqued, my interest has endured and so I have followed the careers of the "Catching Molinas", now joined in the bigs by the aforementioned 3rd brother, Yadier (wouldn't he have been perfect for an episode of Seinfeld?) They've all had pretty good careers and each one has a World Series ring, so you could say that it's not a bad thing to have a "Catching Molina" on your team. So naturally I was happy to hear last week that the Sox had signed... minor league catcher Gustavo Molina!

Wait a minute, Gustavo? A fourth brother? Never heard of him, so I looked him up. Turns out that despite his surname and shinguards he's not a member of the "real" Molina tribe. In fact he's not even from the same country. Quel dommage! But hey, he must be a cousin or something, right? One imagines a grizzled scout spotting the line "Molina C" in a high school box score and thinking "gotta check that guy out!"

While atempthing to vet Gustavo's lineage I ran across an interesting fact: There have been only six men with the surname 'Molina' who've played major league baseball, and five of them have been catchers. I remembered ol' Izzy Molina from the 90's but I don't think I'd ever heard of Gabe Molina, the only non-catching Molina, who pitched briefly and ineffectively for the Orioles, Braves, and Cardinals.

Just one of those odd bits of baseball knowledge that fans seem to enjoy. Even in the bleak mid-Winter, baseball holds our attention like no other game.

[A colleague told me that there are also three boxing Molina brothers who are, alas, unrelated to the Catching Molinas. Seems to me that three beefy catchers plus three boxers might be the foundation for a pretty good hockey team...]