Molina begins his first season with the Cardinals serving as assistant hitting coach. This is his first coaching job since concluding an 11-year Major League career following the 2010 season. He posted a .274 career batting mark with 144 HRs and 711 RBI.
Molina spent most of his career with the Anaheim Angels, after signing in 1993 as a non-drafted free-agent. He made his Major League debut in 1998 with Anheim and in his two best seasons for the Angels, 2000 and 2003, he had almost identical numbers: hitting .281, 14 home runs and 71 RBI in each season. He signed as a free agent with Toronto in 2006, hitting 19 home runs and batting .284. He signed with the San Francisco Giants in 2007 and again hit 19 home runs and then in 2009 he smacked a career-high 20 home runs.
Molina won a World Championship with the Anaheim Angels in 2002, playing in all seven World Series games while hitting .286. He also had the unique experience in 2010 of beginning the season wtih San Francisco before a mid-season trade to Texas, the two eventual World Series teams. Molina was a Gold Glove recipient in both 2002 and 2003.
Molina is the older brother of Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina and Tampa Bay Rays catcher Jose Molina. The trio's father, Benjamin, Sr., was inducted into Puerto Rico Amateur Baseball Hall of Fame as a second baseman on October 27, 2002, the same day as Game 7 of the 2002 World Series in which Bengie started.
A native of Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico, Molina, 38, resides in Yuma, Ariz., with his wife, Jamie, and daughter, Jayda (3). He has two other daughters, Kyshly (18) and Kelssy (14).
