ST LOUIS, MO – JUNE 23: Albert Pujols #5 of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and Yadier Molina #4 of the St. Louis Cardinals pose for a photo after exchanging jerseys after their game at Busch Stadium on June 23, 2019 in St. Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)
Albert Pujols congratulates Yadier Molina on breaking the record he once held.
This is the way record-breaking should feel.
The sportsmanship Albert Pujols just showed to Yadier Molina proves that Pujols isn’t just a great ballplayer, he’s a great man.
On Sunday, Molina knocked Pujols out of fourth place on the Cardinals’ all-time hits list when he secured his 2,074 hit. The friendly banter between Pujols and Molina stem from their long friendship and, of course, being teammates of eight years.
Now that they are on opposing teams, it’s nice to see there’s no bad blood.
“Congratulations to my little brother [Yadier Molina] for passing me on the [Cardinals] all-time hit list,” he wrote. “Your hard work and dedication has paid off. Not only are you one of the premier hitters in baseball, but you are the greatest catcher in the game today and future HOFer.”
And Molina replied telling Pujols they could celebrate in person when they played each other in September.
Even the teammates predicted some fun between the two.
“I know that Yadier is going to take a picture of that, ‘Yadier passes Albert thing [on the jumbotron],’ and send it to Albert,” said Adam Wainwright, another longtime friend and teammate to both (h/t MLB.com) “I think he has to.”
This is the kind of banter we are here for.