Empyreal Environs

Bengie Molina is the last baseball player one could imagine to join the very short list of players hitting for the cycle with the home run being a grand slam:

• Nap Lajoie, Philadelphia Athletics, second baseman, July 30, 1901 against the Cleveland Indians
• Bill Terry, New York Giants, first baseman, May 29, 1928 against the Brooklyn Robins
• Tony Lazzeri, New York Yankees, second baseman, June, 3, 1932 against the Philadelphia Athletics
• Jimmie Foxx, Philadelphia Athletics, first baseman, August 14, 1933 against the Cleveland Indians
• Jay Buhner, Seattle Mariners, right fielder, June 23, 1993 against the Oakland Athletics
• Miguel Tejada, Oakland Athletics, shortstop, September 29, 2001 against the Seattle Mariners
• Jason Kubel, Minnesota Twins, left fielder, April 17, 2009 against the Anaheim Angels

Molina added his names to the annals of baseball history as the first catcher to accomplish this feat. The backstop’s two days in a Rangers uniform have been memorable: .625 batting average and on-base percentage and 1.750 slugging percentage. Although he was pulled from the game last night after he dragged his grand piano all the way to third to complete the cycle, the irresistible force is back in the lineup.

To replace Victor Martinez and Jason Varitek the Red Sox brought in an inferior impostor Molina named Gustavo and Kevin Cash. Cash butchered a couple of pitches that were ruled to be wild but should not have gotten by him. He also dropped an on-target throw from J.D. Drew that would have halted a run from scoring and ended the eighth.

At this point I’d rather see Bill Hall wield the tools of ignorance until the return of Victor Martinez and Jason Varitek. After witness Cash’s ineptitude I can’t imagine Hall would do any worse.

Game 90: July 16, 2010
Rangers 52-38	8	W: Colby Lewis (9-5) H: Darren O’Day (11)
		2B: Bengie Molina (7), Nelson Cruz (14) 3B: Bengie Molina (1) HR: Bengie Molina (5)
Red Sox 51-39	4	L: Felix Doubront (1-2)
		2B: Kevin Youkilis – 2 (21) HR: Adrian Beltre (14)