“As Yadier Molina goes, the team goes," Rodriguez continued during a press conference. “As Yadier Molina goes, the team goes because he brings so much – not only defensively, but (what) he also brings offensively. The way he handles the pitching, well, we saw that. We’ve been watching that for years in the big leagues and with Team Puerto Rico.”

The Cardinals know all these facets of his game well, especially that moment when they see him “rise for a big moment,” as teammates said. The Molina in the WBC is the same as the Molina in Game 7 of the 2006 NLCS at Shea Stadium, when the curveball got all the attention but with each passing year it’s become more and more apparent how that game was all about the catcher. Molina has that same bounce when he senses a pitcher can complete a shutout, or when a treasured teammate is returning to the mound from an absence. On the same night his brother Bengie was broadcasting the game in Spanish as a dress rehearsal for the Cardinals expanding their bilingual footprint, Molina hit a home run that his brother called live and later in the game Yadier had a walk-off double. He takes to Sunday night games at Wrigley or the night his mother watched from a hospital with this same buoyant play – and, like a gifted defenseman or point guard, control of all facets of the game.