DORADO, PUERTO RICO (KMOX) - Fresh off signing a one-year contract with the St. Louis Cardinals, Yadier Molina is stepping up to the plate in his home country of Puerto Rico and buying the school he attended as a child.
Molina's Foundation 4 has received permission to buy the Espinosa Kuilan Elementary School campus in Dorado, which closed in 2017. The building has been abandoned, but the former Roberto Clemente Award winner, as MLB's most-charitable player, has some big plans for the space.
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Foundation 4 shared a report that Molina plans to open a community center that involves developing players, doing social work, and creating opportunities for self-improvement, leadership, security, and self-esteem for children from ages 5- to 18-years-old.
Plans include the construction of an indoor batting cage, a gym, indoor pitching mounds, and rooms for workshops and seminars.
"Once again, our Golden Glove winner took it out of the park," a local official told Metro Puerto Rico. The agreed price of the sale is $170,000, according to the report.
Molina and his wife, Wanda Torres, started the foundation in 2010. They specialize in hosting charity events to help children in Puerto Rico who are sick, disadvantage or have special needs.
The future Hall of Fame catcher was recognized as the Roberto Clemente Award winner in 2018, he's one of six Cardinals players to win – the most of any MLB franchise. He joined Lou Brock (1975), Ozzie Smith ('95), Albert Pujols (2008) and Carlos Beltran (2013) and Adam Wainwright (2020).
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