Cardinals fans get worthy tribute of legends Albert Pujols and Yadier Molina

One of the best eras of St. Louis Cardinals baseball came from 2003 through 2011. That isn't by accident, as both Yadier Molina and Albert Pujols played as teammates for most of those years. Now, those two legends will join the Cardinals Hall of Fame as teammates once again.

Yadier Molina won the fan vote, but it felt disingenuous to not let these two best friends and legends go into the Hall at the same time. Left-handed pitcher Bill Sherdel will go in via the Red Ribbon Veterans Committee vote. Sherdel is the winningest left-handed pitcher in franchise history.

St. Louis Cardinals fans will have the opportunity to welcome two legends in Yadier Molina and Albert Pujols into the Hall of Fame.

Best of friends, teammates, and now Hall of Famers, Yadi and Pujols will continue their legendary journey through St. Louis Cardinals history. Team president Bill DeWitt III announced the Hall of Fame inductees prior to Friday's game against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

"The first winner and the leader in the fan vote is 19-year veteran of the Cardinals and classic Cardinal all-timer Yadier Molina," said DeWitt III of Yadi's induction. "I couldn't be happier for Yadi and the fans to be able to celebrate this."

Molina is a 10-time All-Star and a nine-time Gold Glove recipient. He played all 19 seasons of his career with the Cardinals, and he finished his career with a .277/.327/.399 slash line, 176 home runs, and 1,022 runs batted in. He was reliable offensively, but his defense was his calling card.

"This probably won't come as a surprise, but the second fan-vote winner this year is Albert Pujols," DeWitt III continued. This was the first time ever that two players have been inducted via fan vote. "Just a legendary Cardinal figure. (I) can't wait for both of those guys to be inducted and get their red jackets.

Pujols spent the first 11 years of his career with the Cardinals, but he departed for the Los Angeles Angels for a decade before returning to St. Louis for his swansong 2022 season. Pujols hit 703 total home runs in his career, 469 of which came with the Cardinals. He finished his Cardinals career with a .326/.417/.614 slash line and 1,397 RBIs. Had he spent his entire career with the Cardinals, Pujols would have a strong argument as the best Cardinal ever.

Yadi and Albert are both two-time World Series champions (2006, 2011), and Sherdel was a part of the first-ever Cardinals World Series championship team in 1926.

The induction ceremony will take place one hour before first pitch on September 12th. Hall of Fame ceremonies are usually held at Ballpark Village. However, the Cardinals are expecting large crowds. The ceremony will now take place at Busch Stadium on the field. This will allow nearly 50,000 fans to watch the ceremony along with players, coaches, and alumni.

Yadi and Albert led many Cardinals teams to successful seasons. They retired as teammates, and now they'll enter the Cardinals Hall of Fame together once again.

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