Molina: The Story of the Father Who Raised an Unlikely Baseball Dynasty

Written by Bengie Molina and Joan Ryan

Narrated by Henry Leyva

The inspiring true story of the poor Puerto Rican factory worker, Benjamin Molina Santana, who against all odds raised the greatest baseball dynasty of all time: Molina's three sons Bengie, Jose, and Yadier have each earned two World Series rings, which is unprecedented in the sport, and his story is told by one of them, Bengie.

A baseball rules book. A tape measure. A lottery ticket. These were in the pocket of Bengie Molina's father when he died of a heart attack on the rutted Little League field in his Puerto Rican barrio. The items serve as thematic guideposts in Molina's beautiful memoir about his father, who through baseball taught his three sons about loyalty, humility, courage, and the true meaning of success. Bengie and his two brothers Jose and six-time All-Start Yadier became famous catchers in the Major Leagues and have six World Series Championships among them.

Only the DiMaggio brothers can rival the Molinas as the most accomplished siblings in baseball history. Bengie was the least likely to reach the majors. He was too slow, too sensitive and too small. But craving his beloved fathers respect, Bengie weathered failure after deflating failure until one day he was hoisting a World Series trophy in a champagne-soaked clubhouse. All along he thought he was fulfilling his fathers own failed dream of baseball glory only to discover it had not been his fathers dream at all.

Written with the emotional power of sports classics such as Field of Dreams and Friday Night Lights, Molina is a love story between a formidable but flawed father and a son who, in unearthing answers about his fathers life, comes to understand his own.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Highbridge Company
• Release date: May 12, 2015
• ISBN: 9781622319329

Bengie Molina

Benjamin José "Bengie" Molina is a former Major League Baseball catcher who has played for the Anaheim Angels, the Toronto Blue Jays, and the San Francisco Giants. His brothers, Yadier and José, are also major league catchers. Bengie holds two World Championship rings, and two Gold Glove Awards. He is now the first base coach and catching instructor for the Texas Rangers.

Reviews for Molina

[Lisa · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This was an awesome book. I went searching for a first person narrative for my son that would interest him as the assignment was to write a paper on how setting impacts the storyline. My 12 year old is into sports so this was a perfect book. The public school system selects books that often times does not include characters of colors unless it has to do slavery and crime. I appreciate the many history lessons as well. This book is a catslyst for many research projects. Thank you for sharing your families story!

[Shannon Gray · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Fabulous book about the love of baseball but most of all the love of family. I would recommend it to anyone who loves baseball or anyone who has a family.