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Robert Joseph Molinaro (born May 21, 1950) is an American former professional baseball outfielder in the minor and major leagues in a career that lasted 18 years. His baseball career began in 1968, and lasted until 1985. During that time Molinaro played for 13 different teams, in seven different leagues.
Born in Newark, New Jersey, Molinaro played baseball at Essex Catholic High School. Bob Molinaro, Baseball-Reference.com. Accessed March 24, 2018.
Molinaro was then assigned to the rookie class Gulf Coast League Tigers for the 1968 season. He was promoted to Class A the following season and played in the Carolina League for the Rocky Mount Leafs in 1969. After the 1969 season, Molinaro was once again promoted up the ranks of the Tigers' system to Class Double A where he would spend the next two seasons, 1970 and 1971, playing for the Montgomery Rebels of the Southern League.
In 1972 Molinaro finally moved up to Triple A and played the season with the Toledo Mud Hens of the International League. In 1973 he returned to Toledo and also spent time back with the Rebels. After that, he played from 1974 through 1977 for the Tigers' new Triple A club, the Evansville Triplets of the American Association.
Molinaro played a full season with the White Sox in 1978, before heading back to the minor leagues for the 1979 season, which saw him play for the American Association's Iowa Cubs. Molinaro did have another brief stay in the major leagues in 1979 when he played eight games for the Baltimore Orioles. Once again, he was back in a White Sox uniform, and playing full-time for them in 1980 and 1981.
After two more years with the White Sox, Molinaro was sent to the Chicago Cubs on March 29, 1982, to complete an earlier deal made on August 15, 1981. The White Sox sent a player to be named later (PTBNL) to the Cubs, also for a player to be named later, who turned out to be Lynn McGlothen. The White Sox eventually sent Molinaro to the Cubs to complete the trade.
After starting the 1982 season with the Cubs and seeing 65 games of action, Molinaro's contract was purchased by the Philadelphia Phillies on September 2. He was supposed to have been acquired by the Phillies two days earlier on August 31 as the PTBNL to complete a December 8, 1981 transaction that also sent Mike Krukow to Philadelphia for Keith Moreland, Dickie Noles and Dan Larson. That part of the deal was canceled on September 1 by the Office of the Commissioner of Baseball which stated that the acquisition of Molinaro could only be made if he "had not been on the active list of any club in the (Phillies') league during any part of a (regular) season between the date of the agreement and the date of the assignment." "For the second time this week the Philadelphia Phillies...," United Press International (UPI), Friday, September 3, 1982. Retrieved January 19, 2023. He appeared in 19 games with the Phillies that season.
The 1983 season was Molinaro's last in the majors. After returning to the Phillies and playing in 19 games, he was released on June 6 and found himself back in the minor league's this time playing for the Triple A Indianapolis Indians.
A return to the Major Leagues came that September when on the 1st Molinaro was signed as a free agent by the Detroit Tigers. Molinaro only played eight more Major League games with his return to the Tigers. Molinaro's career came to a close after sitting out the 1984 season, although he returned to play one last pro season with the Triple A International League's Rochester Red Wings in 1985.
In between, he pitched winter ball with the Leones del Caracas club of the Venezuelan League between the 1977 and 1979 seasons.
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