Yadier Molina/Adam Wainwright
Molina, 38, is enjoying one of the finest offensive seasons of his 18-year MLB career. He’s batting a team-leading .292, and he has an .847 OPS. That plus his unparalleled defensive reputation makes him the consummate old-timer.
Wainwright, 39, has ceded rotation leadership to Jack Flaherty, but he makes an excellent elder statesman. He’s started 10 games, worked 60 innings, and while his 3-4 record and 4.22 ERA are not eye-popping he’s kept his team in the game.
All that makes it totally plausible that if the Cardinals can fight their way to the World Series, their old-timer battery of Wainwright and Molina will have a lot to do with it.
At this stage, the big challenge is getting there. The Cards are locked in a daily scramble with the Cubs for first place in the NL Central while simultaneously trying to hold off the Milwaukee Brewers.
Assuming they reach postseason play, the Cardinals have a decent tradition of advancing. Of their 11 post-season appearances since Molina’s arrival in 2004, they’ve reached the World Series four times, winning twice. No team in baseball has made more World Series appearances since then.
There’s one other reason to expect Molina and/or Wainwright to play the role of old-timer hero. That reason is simple: At this stage of their careers, it’s what they both live for.