University of Minnesota Athletics
Paul Molitor - M Club Hall of Fame
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Paul Molitor
Baseball, 1975-77
HOF Class of 1995
Paul Molitor, a 2004 inductee into the National Baseball Hall of Fame, was an All-Big Ten and All-American shortstop for the Golden Gophers in 1976 and 1977.
At the U of M, Molitor had a career batting average of .350, and led his team to the Big Ten championship and a College World Series appearance in 1977.
Molitor played 21 seasons in the Major Leagues with the Milwaukee Brewers, Toronto Blue Jays and Minnesota Twins. In 1993 he helped lead the Blue Jays to a World Series title, earning Series MVP honors.
The St. Paul native returned to his hometown Twin Cities in 1995 to play for the Twins, and the next year led the team with a .341 average and a league-leading 225 hits.
On September 16, 1996, against the host Kansas City Royals, Molitor became the 21st player in MLB history to hit 3,000 hits, the first to hit that mark with a triple.
The .306 career hitter and seven-time All-Star retired in 1998. He became a hitting instructor and assistant coach before being hired by as manager of the Twins.