Jose Molina

Of all the places Jose Molina imagined he might play on his birthday, he never dreamed of this one. He turns 28 today, and he'll play at home. For Jose and his brother Bengie, the Angel catchers, life as a baseball player has meant summers away from their Puerto Rico homeland. Since 1993, when each made his minor league debut, the brothers have returned home once during a baseball season, for the funeral of their grandmother. The occasion is happy tonight, bordering on thrilling.

Moose Jaw, Salinas and Parkersburg. Not exactly Tinker to Evers to Chance, but these being the Angels, mythology isn't always so neatly packaged. Sometimes, the three most important things in your clubhouse aren't your best infielders. Sometimes they're your three worst memories. Sometimes, a championship race is not only about chasing. Sometimes it's also about running away.

Angel catcher Bengie Molina picked up a bat and inched his hands up the handle until he looked like some little kid gripping a log. He struck an odd, somewhat comical, batting stance, one he has seen through the years, in photographs and in person. "This is how my father held the bat," Molina said, as he lifted his right leg. "Then he would step like this and swing through the ball." Benjamin Molina handed his love of baseball down to Bengie and Jose Molina, also a catcher with the Angels.

Benjamin Molina was a pretty good baseball player in his day, the all-time hit leader in the Puerto Rican amateur league. But a father always wants better for his children, and so Wednesday was a particularly touching day for Molina, when the Angels decided that their two major league catchers would be two of his sons. Bengie Molina, 28, and Jose Molina, 27, have previously played together only because of injury.

The baton passed from one brother to another Saturday, when the Angels put catcher Bengie Molina on the disabled list and replaced him on the roster with his younger brother, Jose. Tests confirmed Bengie Molina suffered a partially torn right hamstring while running the bases in Friday's game. He said he was told he could return in about three weeks.

When Disney planned a movie on the story of Jim Morris, the high school baseball coach turned 35-year-old rookie pitcher for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays two years ago, you had to wonder whether Disney's baseball team could furnish a heartwarming story of its own. This year, the Angels might. Never in their 40-year history have brothers played together on the Angels. But, sometime this season, their catchers could be Bengie Molina and his brother Jose.

If the Sunday afternoon performance of Jose Molina Bailes Espanoles had been a meal, you would have been surprised to find a choice of delectable entrees after such bland appetizers. But eventually the flamenco company's three female dancers were released into savory gypsy-style solos after a very contained, decorous set of dances, done in various combinations with Molina.

What was intended to be a simple gesture of international friendship has turned into a source of embarrassment for Missouri highway and economic development officials. The multilingual sign they erected outside St. Louis' Lambert Airport to welcome foreign visitors was botched, in three of seven languages. "Their intentions were definitely good, and I can understand how these things happen, but they should have consulted a dictionary," said Antonio M. Molina of suburban University City.

Jose Molina founded his Bailes Espanoles troupe in 1962. Before that, he spent five years as Jose Greco's lead dancer. Judging from his dancing with his company Saturday at Ambassador Auditorium, one might assume that Molina has found the fountain of youth. Molina remains a lean, lissome dancer. He uses his long, supple arms and hands to frame footwork that is light and fast. He can turn on a dime, shoot out his arms in matador challenges and end with explosive bursts of footwork.