Tomorrow the Minnesota Twins are expected to announce that Hall of Famer Paul Molitor will be their new manager.
He would succeed Ron Gardenhire who was dismissed after 13 seasons as their skipper. After winning six AL Central titles under Gardenhire, the Twins have endured four consecutive seasons with 90 or more losses and three last place finishes.
Molitor is best known for his days with the Milwaukee Brewers and won a World Series ring in 1993 with the Toronto Blue Jays including the World Series MVP. Molitor, a St. Paul native, played his last three big league seasons with the Twins the highlight of which was when he collected his 3,000th hit. Since retiring after the 1998 season, he has served the Twins in various capacities save for 2004 when he spent one season as the hitting coach for the Seattle Mariners.
Although Molitor has never managed either at the major or minor league levels, he is one of those men who is a natural born leader. Players always gravitated towards him from his earliest days as a player. If Molitor had been with any club other than the Twins, he would have been a big league manager long ago. Molitor is only the Twins’ third manager since 1986.
If anyone can renew spark to the Twins it is The Ignitor.
