ST. LOUIS – Not once, but twice this year, photos of St. Louis Cardinals legend Yadier Molina seemingly donning Cubs gear have taken the internet by storm.
The latest such photo emerged over the weekend on the Talkin’ Baseball X account, which credits the photo from Instagram user @louis_33. The photo apparently shows Molina with a hat, shirt, and baseball bags with logos resembling the Cardinals’ biggest rival, the Chicago Cubs.
Several months earlier, a Cardinals-themed X account shared a different photo, unsourced, of Molina sporting a jacket with a Cubs hat and jacket, captioned “Why Yadi why.”
The photos have been tough for some baseball fans to comprehend, met with replies such as “A sin,” “cursed image,” “This can’t be real,” and “Cardinals fans are in absolute shambles.”
Molina retired from Major League Baseball in 2022 after 19 big-league seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals. As the Cardinals’ lead backstop for much of that time, he won two World Series titles and nine Gold Glove awards in his illustrious career, oftentimes praised for his handling of the St. Louis pitching staff.
Since his retirement, Molina managed Puerto Rico’s team in the 2023 World Baseball Classic and has devoted more time for his family in baseball and beyond. Molina officially rejoined the Cardinals in the 2023-24 offseason as a special assistant to the president of baseball operations, a front office role with support from lead executive John Mozeliak. That said, he hasn’t been in the public spotlight all too often with his new Cardinals role.
Sometime since accepting the new role, the two photos of Molina apparently in Cubs gear went viral. Many baseball fans, both within and outside the Cardinals community, are wondering if those photos are real or what they’re all about.
There’s at least one potential explanation. Yadier Molina’s oldest son, Yanuell, plays for a youth baseball team known as “Cubs de Kuilan” in Puerto Rico. Yadi has been vocal about supporting his son’s baseball adventures, previously congratulating his team on a Thanksgiving Classic championship and a perfect game on Instagram. The Thanksgiving Classic photo also appears to show Yadi up front holding a team trophy.
According to the World Baseball Softball Confederation, the Puerto Rican Baseball Federation named Yadier Molina as the manager of its U-15 National Baseball Team late last year, listing a roster that also includes several players listed on the “Cubs de Kulian” online roster, including his son Yanuell.
How this exactly connects with Molina wearing Cubs gear is a bit unclear, though it’s reasonable to believe he’s wearing it in support of his son’s baseball team rather than the Cardinals rival in Chicago.
For what it’s worth, Yadier Molina enjoyed some big moments against the Chicago Cubs throughout his MLB career, hitting .285 with 18 home runs and 118 RBI against the cross-state foes. He played more games against the Cubs (247) than every other team in his career aside from the Milwaukee Brewers.
FOX 2’s efforts to reach out to Instagram user @louis_33, credited for the latest Molina Cubs gear photo, were unsuccessful ahead of this story’s publication.