ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, September 17, 1996 TAG: 9609170112
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: KANSAS CITY, MO.
SOURCE: Associated Press
Paul Molitor got his 3,000th career hit Monday night, becoming the 21st major leaguer to reach the mark and the first to do it with a triple.
Molitor's historic hit came exactly three years to the day that Dave Winfield got No.3,000. Like Molitor, Winfield was born in St. Paul, Minn., and was playing for the hometown Minnesota Twins when he made it to the milestone.
Molitor singled in the first inning for No.2,999 and flied out in the third.
With one out in the fifth, Molitor hit an opposite-field fly ball to the alley off Kansas City rookie Jose Rosado. Center fielder Rod Myers and right fielder Jon Nunnally both tried to run it down but slowed up as they came together, and the ball dropped just behind them.
Molitor, 40, reached the plateau with his major league-leading 211th hit of the season, and the 105th triple of a career that started in 1978 with Milwaukee. He signed last December with the Twins.
Molitor's teammates ran onto the field to congratulate him after the hit, as did Twins manager Tom Kelly, who rarely leaves the dugout to join celebrations.
Two other members of the 3,000-hit club, Robin Yount, who played more than a decade with Molitor in Milwaukee, and former Royals star George Brett watched from an upstairs box at Kauffman Stadium. Also on hand was American League president Gene Budig.
The crowd in Kansas City gave Molitor a standing ovation when he came to plate, and another ovation after the hit. In his next at-bat in the seventh, Molitor singled for hit No.3,001. He hit a sacrifice fly in the ninth in the Twins' 6-5 loss.
Molitor raised his average to .343 with his 3,000th hit. The Twins designated hitter is on his way to his 11th .300 season, and sixth in seven years.
The seven-time All-Star and MVP of the 1993 World Series with Toronto admitted before the game he was more relaxed than he had been the day before while trying to get the historic hit at home.
``The thing about yesterday was it was not relaxing,'' Molitor, who got a standing ovation from the sparse Kauffman Stadium crowd each time he came to the plate, said before the game.
``Now, to be away from trying to do it on one given day in Minnesota, naturally, I think I'll be a little more relaxed tonight,'' he said.
Molitor, who is also the first man to reach the rare plateau in a season in which he got more than 200 hits, had made up his mind to enjoy the chase.
``It's fun,'' he said. ``The response and the letters and the calls that I've gotten, and the crowd yesterday - how could you not enjoy something like this? To do it at home with my family present would have been the best-case scenario.
``But on a personal note, I don't want that to take away from what's going to be a very special moment in my career. It didn't happen at home, but it's still going to be a good thing. It's going to happen somewhere, somehow, and I'm going to enjoy it when it does.''
The previous two players to get 3,000 hits - Winfield in 1993 and Eddie Murray last year - did it at the Metrodome. Molitor hoped to reach the mark at home, but went 0-for-3 Sunday against Seattle.
Molitor has missed 592 games in his career because of injuries.
He only got to 2,000 hits on July 30, 1991, with a single off Kansas City's Bret Saberhagen, but has been relatively healthy since then in his pursuit of 3,000. He has not missed a game this season.
LENGTH: Medium: 72 lines ILLUSTRATION: GRAPHIC: Chart: 3000 hit club. color. KEYWORDS: BASEBALL MGRby CNB