Toronto Blue Jays: 5 takeaways from Paul Molitor interview

4) Molitor felt well-received after replacing Dave Winfield

Molitor was already on his way to a Hall of Fame career, but when he arrived in Southern Ontario he was effectively going to replace Dave Winfield, who was further along a similar path. Winfield was only in Toronto for one year, but had left his own impression with the hit which won the Blue Jays their first ever World Series in 1992.

An interesting side note was that Molitor and Winfield had both been born in Saint Paul, Minnesota. This only added to the pressure which was going to be felt in replacing a 12-time All-Star, so comparisons between the two were inevitable.

Molitor appreciated he had big shoes to fill “both figuratively and literally”, but it didn’t take long for him to feel accepted in the clubhouse, with a little help from the fans. As per Sportsnet, he said:

"“It was obviously a challenge after leaving a team (following) 15 years, but I felt well-received right away. The Toronto fans welcomed me with open arms and we moved into the community out there in North York and began a very, very enjoyable three-year stint as being part of that community.”"

In truth, the club was always going to do everything possible to make Molitor’s transition as smooth as possible. Along with the fans, they knew they had a player who was key in helping them challenge for another World Series.