Appreciating the marvel of the Molinas from 60 feet away

At some point in the midst of the Angels’ run to the 2002 World Series title, closer Troy Percival was basking in the brilliance of the backstop brothers he had the pleasure of pairing with.

The Halos’ primary catcher that year was Bengie Molina, who was en route to his first of two consecutive Gold Gloves. The backup was Bengie’s younger brother, José, who was in the early stages of what would be a long career as a trusted receiver. Percival thought the Molinas were magnificent at calling games, and he was fascinated that so much catching talent could come from one family.

“How does this happen?” he asked the Molina brothers one day.

They talked about their father, Benjamín, an accomplished ballplayer and coach in their native Puerto Rico who might have played in the big leagues had family commitments not impeded his career.

Then they filled Percival in on what was looming in the family pipeline.

“Just wait,” one of them replied, “until you see our little brother.”

Now we’ve all seen that little brother. He’s Cardinals catching constant Yadier Molina, and his long and possibly Cooperstown-worthy career is in its final days.

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As Yadi wraps up what he announced will be his last season -- on a St. Louis club that has clinched its ninth National League Central title and is headed to its 13th playoff appearance of his tenure -- there has been much written and said about what he has meant to that successful franchise. With 10 All-Star appearances, nine Gold Gloves and four Platinum Gloves, he has distinguished himself as one of the more accomplished catchers of all time.

Remember, though, that when Yadi hangs up his chest protector this fall, it will mark the end not just for him but for baseball’s first catching family.

Bengie, who played his last game in 2010, and José, who retired in 2014, won’t have their faces captured in bronze in the Hall of Fame’s plaque gallery, as Yadi might. But with more than 35,000 innings behind the plate and (at least) five World Series rings between the three catchers -- making them the only trio of brothers in MLB history to have won it all -- the Molinas built a legacy within the game that is best appreciated by those who worked with them.

Over the years, the three Molinas caught a combined 427 different pitchers, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. And interestingly, according to MLB.com research, Percival is one of only three of those pitchers -- along with starter John Lackey and reliever Brian Tallet -- to have thrown to all three.

So what does it mean to have matched up with all the Molinas?

“Truthfully, it meant more to me before you told me there are three of us,” Percival said with a laugh. “Because I thought I was the only one!”

Percival can at least take comfort in knowing he was the first. He became something of a Molina magnet when he first paired with Bengie in a Major League game in 1999. José joined them in Anaheim in 2002, and Percival went on to pair with Yadi on the 2007 Cardinals.

“I was very fortunate,” Percival said of the experience. “They’re different people with the same heart. All three played with so much heart and care for other people.”

Tallet, who also worked with the Molinas in reverse order of age (first with Bengie in Toronto in 2006, then José in Toronto in 2010 and finally with Yadi in St. Louis in 2011), was equally effusive in his praise.

“I think it’s how they were brought up,” Tallet said. “They are just fantastic to be around. They worked as hard as anybody else. None of them have the body of a Greek god. They all have that thicker, low-center-of-gravity kind of body. But they were all very strong, very knowledgeable and very, very smart. They were so good at picking up little details a hitter might be doing. They recognize something and are able to make an adjustment, mid at-bat.”

Lackey, whose progression with the Molinas mirrored that of Percival (pairing with the older brothers in Anaheim and then of course Yadi in St. Louis), could not be reached for comment for this story. But through Percival and Tallet, we can get a window into what made each of these brothers special.

Let’s start with the elder statesman.

BENGIE

Born: July 20, 1974
Games played: 1,362
Career WAR: 10.7
Teams: Angels (1998-2005), Blue Jays (2006), Giants (2007-10), Rangers (2010)
Offense: .274/.307/.411, 144 HRs, 217 2Bs, 711 RBIs, 5,159 PAs
Defense: 10,745 innings, 31% caught stealing, 2 Gold Gloves

You won’t find a bigger Bengie Molina fan than Percival. After all, the two shared that most magical of baseball moments -- a big bear hug when Percival recorded the final out of Game 7 in 2002, with Bengie as his catcher.

“I’ll never forget him wrapping his arms around me,” Percival said. “He meant a lot to my career. All the catchers I worked with have their own meaning to me. But he was my guy, my personal guy. It’s a bond that it’s in my head and in my heart.”

Percival was actually a catcher when he first signed with the Angels after a sixth-round selection out of UC Riverside in the 1990 Draft. So he had an extra appreciation for Bengie’s approach to his craft.

“I always took pride in my pitchers’ ERAs and their success when I was catching,” Percival said. “And then I found Bengie, and that was his way, too. He was more concerned with his pitchers than he was with his batting average and how he was doing. It makes you grow faith in a guy when he has so much invested in his pitchers.”

Bengie won the Angels’ starting catching spot in Spring Training 2000, his age-25 season. He would remain with the club through 2005. Percival, who was with the Halos through 2004 and is the franchise’s all-time saves leader (316), paired with him in 184 appearances.

“It was always so smooth with Bengie,” Percival said. “When he first came up, he would come up and say, ‘Hey, in this situation, what do you want to do? What do you think about this?’ I didn’t think about it at the time, but he was trying to develop his craft and make sure his pitchers all were comfortable with him. I think that’s pretty wise. All of a sudden, you get somebody who feels like your brother back there. It was a very happy experience.”

By the time Tallet experienced working with Bengie, the catcher was a veteran who had signed with the Blue Jays as a free agent.

“I was still trying to establish myself as a big leaguer at that point,” Tallet said. “When he came over, he was always very upbeat, very personable, easy to get along with. That was the first thing I noticed about Bengie. And then, on top of that, I always thought Bengie was a fantastic hitter.”

Bengie did not have the offensive peak that Yadi had. But Tallet did encounter him in the midst of consecutive seasons in which Bengie’s OPS+ was at or just better than the league average. In that 2006 season, he slashed .288/.325/.500 with men on base. Paired with his catching, it made for an impact player.

“Of the three [Molinas], I thought he was probably the most complete hitter,” Tallet said.

JOSÉ

Born: June 3, 1975
Games played: 947
Career WAR: 3.1
Teams: Cubs (1999), Angels (2001-07), Yankees (2007-09), Blue Jays (2010-11), Rays (2012-14)
Offense: .233/.282/.327, 39 HRs, 117 2Bs, 223 RBIs, 2,795 PAs
Defense: 6,827 innings, 37% caught stealing, 59 defensive runs saved

With only two seasons in which he appeared in as many as 100 games, José Molina is remembered as a career backup.

And yet, that career spanned 15 Major League seasons. That he always found a job, often on good teams (including not just the World Series champion Angels in 2002 but also the champion Yankees in 2009) speaks to how his defensive skillset was valued in the industry.

“There’s a pretty good reason for [the length of José’s career],” Tallet said. “When I think of the three, I consider José to be probably the best defensive catcher of the three because of his receiving of the ball, his body awareness and making little adjustments to make a pitch look like a strike when it wasn’t a strike.”

José twice led the AL in caught stealing percentage and even led in pickoffs in one year (with five, in 2004) despite making just 57 starts.

“He had a really good arm, was really good at getting rid of the ball,” Tallet said. “The only reason José wasn’t a starter for 15 years in the big leagues was he was just an OK hitter. But defensively? He was fantastic.”

José first came up with the Cubs in 1999 but was released the following year. He latched on with his brother’s Angels team in 2001 and wound up staying in Anaheim through 2007.

“He just blended in seamlessly,” Percival recalled. “He was a good guy, a good player and could really catch. I never got quite as close to him as I did Bengie, because I threw to Bengie for a long time. But when José joined us, I started to understand what kind of family they are.”

YADI

Born: July 13, 1982
Games played (all stats through Monday): 2,220
Career WAR: 42.3
Team: Cardinals (2004-22)
Offense: .278/.328/.399, 176 HRs, 408 2Bs, 1,021 RBIs, 8,545 PAs
Defense: 18,275 innings, 40% caught stealing, 176 defensive runs saved, 9 Gold Gloves

When Percival signed with the Cardinals midway through the 2007 season, he hadn’t pitched in the big leagues in two years. He had suffered a serious forearm injury in July 2005 that put his career in doubt. The Cardinals were his comeback opportunity, and they also offered an opportunity to work with a Molina brother again.

The pairing with Yadi, however, did not start off smoothly.

“The first couple outings, I was constantly stepping off [the rubber] and shaking my head,” Percival recalled. “He took it personally.”

Yadi, who at that point was in just his third full season in the big leagues, was not offended; he was inspired. Unbeknownst to Percival, Yadi called both Bengie and José after one of those initial outings and asked them how to get the best out of the veteran Percival.

The next day, in the clubhouse, Yadi made Percival a promise:

“You’ll never have to shake me off again.”

The Cardinal way revolved around sinkers and sliders, but Yadi learned from those chats with his brothers that Percival preferred fastballs early in the count.

“Man, what a nice effort for that young man to make,” Percival said, reflecting on that time. “I was 37 years old, but he took the time to get things right for me. For him to have gone out of his way to get to know some old guy who showed up for half a season shows you what he’s all about. And sure enough, I didn’t have to shake him off anymore.”

Percival had a terrific year, with a 1.80 ERA in 40 innings for the Cards. It allowed him to prolong his career for two subsequent seasons.

Yadi helped make that happen.

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“He was around [Albert] Pujols a lot and got to watch how everything went down,” Percival said. “He’s different from his brothers, in that regard. Bengie was a very quiet guy, though he will tell you what needs to be said. José, anything you need, he’s there for you. But Yadi is a clubhouse leader type.”

And he’s also a complete package as a catcher, capable of calling a great game and contributing at the plate while remaining durable and dependable. He’s received MVP votes in five of his 19 seasons.

“Obviously, Yadi had an absolute cannon for an arm,” Tallet said. “And for a long portion of his career, there was no one better behind the plate at throwing guys out. He was one of those guys that didn’t hit initially in his career and then developed into a pretty damn good hitter. He just kept evolving from there. My time in St. Louis was kind of broken up, because of injuries. So I didn’t throw to him as much as I did the other two. But still, watching every game and watching him play the game, the passion he played with was pretty awesome to watch.”

You probably won’t be surprised to hear that, five years before the Baseball Writers’ Association of America begins to vote on Yadi’s case, both Tallet and Percival believe him to be worthy of induction into the Hall of Fame.

“There’s nobody in my era who was better,” Percival said. “His brothers had told me about him. And then, when I pitched to him, it was like, ‘Holy crap, this guy is so good.’”

As Yadi’s career winds down, so, too, does the unprecedented, unmatched Molina brother era. Back in 2016, Bengie published a book -- “Molina: The Story of the Father Who Raised an Unlikely Baseball Dynasty” -- that serves as a tribute to Benjamín and best sums up the trio’s contribution to MLB:

“Of all the jobs on baseball field,” Bengie wrote, “we found the one that positioned us at a spot called home. Our job was to protect it.”

In doing so, Bengie, José and the retiring Yadi positively impacted the careers of many pitchers, including the only three to have worked with each of them.

“Most kids don’t understand who the Molina brothers are, outside of Yadi,” Tallet said. “But when you go a step further, you see how great this family was.”