MOLINA: THE STORY OF THE FATHER WHO RAISED AN UNLIKELY BASEBALL DYNASTY

MOLINA: THE STORY OF THE FATHER             BENGIE MOLINA & JOAN RYAN
Posted:  April 24, 2015

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 & 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 &  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-Star 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 father & 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 father & own failed dream of baseball glory & only to discover it had not been his father & 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 father & life, comes to understand his own. 

HUBBY'S REVIEW:

This is the story of Bengie Molina, and his fight or struggles to become a major league catcher. He was born and raised in Puerto Rico along with two brothers who also play baseball. He describes what it was like struggling to first make a team in Puerto Rico, but also how his father would have him leave the game for some of the things he did when he did not show good sportsmanship. Even though this is a book about his struggles to become a professional ball player. I found I was drawn to the part of him going back home after his father passed away and how he found out so much more about the life of his father after he was gone. He found out the reasons why he turned down a contract to play in the U.S. when he was younger and how he won a batting title and other awards but never displayed them. His friends opened up to Bengie after the funeral to tell him the stories and of the different major leaguers that had played for him. That for me is what made this book different than some of the other baseball books. To think that three brothers would all make it to the major league is incredible, but it happened. Yadier, the youngest playing for the Cardinals went back to their home town and built a new little stadium and named it after their father, so that right their shows you the importance he had in their life along with their mother. This is a book about baseball but also about family and I thought it was a very good book. I give this 4 stars. Provided by Net Galley.