Cardinals Greats, Albert Pujols, Yadier Molina Named to The Athletic's All-Quarter Century Team
The first 25-years of this century has a number of sports publications reflecting back on someone of the greatest modern day competitors.
Thursday, Jayson Stark of The Athletic released his MLB All-Quarter Century Team. Stark's team included nine hitters, five starting pitchers and one closer, and a pair of St. Louis Cardinals greats made the cut.
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Playing first base on Stark's all-quarter century team is the legendary Albert Pujols, and behind the plate is the great Yadier Molina.
Here's the full team:
Pujols being the starting first baseman shouldn't come as a surprise to many. Stark claims that of all the decisions he had to make, this one was the easiest.
"So why did I pick Albert? Oh, no particular reason … other than that he ranks first among this group in pretty much everything. We're talking over 700 homers and 3,300 hits, 101.3 WAR (according to Baseball Reference) and the most total bases in history (6,211) by anyone not named Henry Aaron."
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"Want to argue that any of those other first basemen were greater? Sure. Go for it. But Pujols was the easiest pick, for me, on this whole ballot. #Legend," he wrote.
Pujols spent the first 11 seasons of his 22-year career in St. Louis. He was a three-time MVP, 11-time all-star, two-time World Series champion and won rookie of the year in 2001. After spending 10 years with the Angels and one with the Dodgers, Pujols finished his career in St. Louis, where he became the fourth player ever to eclipse the 700 home run mark.
Cardinals legends Albert Pujols and Yadier MolinaJeff Curry-Imagn Images
With other strong candidates at the catcher position, such as Buster Posey and Joe Mauer, Stark's decision to select Molina wasn't quite as easy.
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Stark says that he ran the catcher debate by a scout who used to play in the big leagues, and the scout didn't even hesitate to pick Molina.
'It's Yadi,' he said. 'It's got to be Yadi. End of story. I don't care about the numbers. Yadi has all the nuanced stuff you can't measure. Go look at all those Cardinals pitching staffs that got better when he was behind the plate. And the second he left, they have not been the same. So it's Yadi. It's got to be Yadi.'
A ten-time All-Star and two-time World Series champion, Molina spent all 19 seasons of his career with the Cardinals. Molina may not have the offensive prowess of Mauer or Posey, but he still finished his career with over 2,100 hits and over 1,000 RBIs. With nine gold gloves and four platinum gloves, Molina is also widely considered to be the greatest defensive catcher of all time.
Both Pujols and Molina will make their first appearance on the Baseball Hall of Fame ballot in 2028.
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Related: Cardinals Facing Potentially Significant Albert Pujols-Yadier Molina Decision
Related: Albert Pujols, Yadier Molina Could Be Impacted by MLB's Historic Pete Rose Decision
Cardinals Greats, Albert Pujols, Yadier Molina Named to The Athletic's All-Quarter Century Team first appeared on Athlon Sports on May 22, 2025
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