José Molina

From BR Bullpen

José Benjamin Molina Matta

Bats Right, Throws Right
Height 6' 2", Weight 215 lb.

Debut September 6, 1999

Born June 3, 1975 in Bayamon, Puerto Rico

[edit] Biographical Information

Jose Molina's brother Yadier Molina plays for the St. Louis Cardinals. A third brother - and José's former teammate with the Los Angeles Angels - Bengie Molina was the Angels' starting catcher through the 2005 season. José and Ben shared the Angels' catching job for several years.

José Molina had a chance to play almost regularly with the New York Yankees in 2008, when Jorge Posada missed a large part of the year with a shoulder injury. He played good defense, but hit very little, prompting the Yankees to obtain veteran Ivan Rodriguez from the Detroit Tigers late in the year. Still, he started the last game ever played at Yankee Stadium on September 21 and hit the last home run in the House that Ruth Built, a two-run shot off Chris Waters in the fourth inning which proved to be the difference in a 7-3 Yankees win over the Baltimore Orioles. He returned to the Yankees in 2009 as Posada's back-up. He spent two months on the disabled list early in the season with a strained quad muscle but got some playing time late in the season as the prefered cacther of pitcher A.J. Burnett. This extended into the postseason, where he was behind the plate for all five of Burnett's starts as the Yankees won the World Series.