Birthday Present From Drew - Paul Molitor Signed Baseball

I got a package in the mail today from my very good friend, Drew, from Drew's Cards.  The package was a birthday present that I have been waiting for with great anticipation.  Drew already let it be known that there would be two Hall of Famers in the box that I needed and he definitely didn't disappoint.

The first ball, my 93rd Hall of Famer was Paul Molitor.  I think, historically, Molitor is vastly underrated.  Molitor (b. 1956) played in the majors from 1978 to 1998 for the Brewers, Blue Jays and Twins.  He had 3,319 hits, 234 home runs and a career batting average of .306.  He led the league in hits 3 times (1991, 1993 and 1996), once collecting 225 hits (1996).  He was only a 7-time All Star in his 21 seasons in the majors and never won the MVP Award, finishing 2nd in 1993 (losing to Frank Thomas).  He did, however win a World Series ring with the Blue Jays in 1993 after losing in his only shot with the Brewers in 1982.  In the '82 series, he did his part.  He went 11 for 31 or  a .355 batting average. 

Probably the oddest statistic, at least to me, is that Molitor never won a batting title.  I really would have thought he had at least one batting crown in his trophy case, but it appears he does not.  He did bat over .300 in 12 seasons where he played 100 or more games.  He hit .353 in 1987, only to lose to Wade Boggs, who batted .363 that year.  Not a bad guy to lose the batting crown to.

Molitor was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2004 (his first ballot) when he was named on 85.2% of the ballot.

Thanks for the ball, Drew!  Stay tuned to see the other ball that he sent!