Giants become first team to honor Cardinals legends Molina, Pujols

On Sunday, the Giants became the first team to honor St. Louis Cardinals legends Yadier Molina and Albert Pujols.

By all accounts, this will be the last season for St. Louis Cardinals legends Yadier Molina, Adam Wainwright and Albert Pujols.

Yet, no team has honored any of the players on the road this season. Until now. On Sunday, in the final game of a four-game series in San Francisco, the Giants honored Molina and Pujols before the fourth inning. They showed each player on the scoreboard – Molina waved and Pujols tipped his cap walking to the plate – and received a standing ovation from the crowd.

Surely, the same treatment would have been done for Wainwright, but he was away from the team after he tested positive for COVID. But that the Giants have now honored the Cardinals legends is likely a sign of what is to come for the rest of the season.

It has been a tough start to the season for Molina, who has battled injuries and is being eased into the regular season. But his numbers have jumped to .230/.230/.295 and he hit his first home run against the Giants. In his 19-year career, he is hitting .279/.330/.401 with a .731 OPS and once he retires, is a sure bet to make the Hall of Fame as one of the best defensive catchers in baseball history.

Pujols, meanwhile, has struggled lately. After a strong start to the season, he’s hitting .220/.319/.390 with a .709 OPS. Like Molina, he is a guarantee to make the Hall of Fame, and is 19 homers short of reaching 700 in his 22-year career.

It’s unlikely that Pujols reaches that milestone because 1) he is not an everyday player and 2) it would take him at least another season to reach that mark. Either way, both players have had illustrious careers, and them being honored during Sunday’s game was not just deserved, but a sign of things to come for the next 130 games in 2022.