Paul Molitor: Hometown Hero Turns Twins Manager

Former Minnesota Twins and Milwaukee Brewers baseball star Paul Molitor is introduced to the crowd Sunday, July 24, 2005, at a Tee Ball game on the South Lawn of the White House, where he participated as first base coach. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

After a fourth-consecutive season of more than 90 losses, the Minnesota Twins gave the old heave-ho to manager Ron Gardenhire.  They promised an extensive search to find a replacement, including some outside candidates like former Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Maddon (who ultimately went with the Chicago Cubs).  But everybody suspected the Twins would once again hire from within, with coach Paul Molitor and Fort Myers Miracle manager Doug Mientkiewicz the only real possibilities.

Those suspicions were confirmed when the Twins named Molitor its 13th manager since coming to Minnesota from Washington in 1961.  The last two managers current owners the Pohlad family have hired--Gardenhire and Tom Kelly--were on the job for a combined 27 years.

Molitor is well known in the Twin Cities area, having grown up in St. Paul.  He attended and played baseball for Cretin-Derham Hall high school and the University of Minnesota.  In a 21-year career spent with the Milwaukee Brewers, Toronto Blue Jays and the Twins, Molitor had 3,319 hits, 234 home runs, 504 stolen bases, and a lifetime .306 batting average.  He's been to two World Series with the Brewers and Jays.  He entered the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2004 on the first ballot.

Molitor has had coaching gigs with the Twins and Seattle Mariners, but he hasn't managed a game until now.  At 58, he doesn't have much of a learning curve.

Molitor inherits a Twins team that's an uninspired mix of players who are either not ready for the majors, or are earning their paycheck just by showing up at the ball park.  Players who are traded or otherwise let go usually did better with their new teams than they ever did in Minnesota.  The new manager's task (as well as the coaches he hires) is to get the most out of the talent he's been given.

That's not going to be easy with a management that's not exactly known for thinking outside the box.  The Pohlads and General Manager Terry Ryan have been spending their money carefully, if not always wisely, on bargain-basement free agents and other talent that so far have not panned out.  All those rookies they drafted have yet to show the promise that was predicted for them.

Paul Molitor, despite his hometown-hero status, is not going to draw any more flies to Target Field as a manager any more than fellow St. Paulite Joe Mauer already has.  Molitor has to earn his keep by steering the Twins in a direction that shows marked improvement on the field and in the standings.  If he succeeds, he can be a Hall of Fame manager.  If not, well, he's already made his mark on Minnesota sports history.