Cubs honor Albert Pujols, Yadier Molina at Wrigley Field Thursday

CHICAGO – Considering their place in the history of one of Major League Baseball’s best rivalries, Thursday was a bit of an unusual day at the Friendly Confines.

That’s when the Cubs honored two of the best players in the history of the St. Louis Cardinals organization.

Before the teams concluded a five-game series at Wrigley Field, the Cubs had a ceremony for soon-to-be retired first baseman Albert Pujols and Yadier Molina.

Manager David Ross and outfielder Jason Heyward presented the players with a number that mimics the one that is used on the famed centerfield scoreboard at the venue. The ceremony came on a day where both players were out of the lineup and weren’t used in a pinch-hitting or a substitute role.

Pujols is calling it a career after 22 seasons in the MLB, with 12 of those spent a member of the Cardinals. During his career playing the Cubs, with a majority of it coming when he was with St. Louis, the first baseman hit .292 with 58 homers and 147 RBI.

Thirty of those homers along with 76 RBI came in 100 games at Wrigley Field, with the last long ball and run batted-in coming in a 1-0 win on Monday evening.

Molina has played all of his 19 years with the Cardinals with 245 career games with the Cubs, with 123 being played at Wrigley Field. When hitting at the park, the catcher hit .233 with nine homers and 52 RBI since breaking into the league in 2004.

Both players watched as their Cardinals team beat the Cubs 8-3 on Thursday afternoon behind two home runs and five RBI from first baseman Paul Goldschmidt. That helped St. Louis win the five-game series 3-2.

Molina and Pujols will have one more series against the Cubs at Busch Stadium in St. Louis on Labor Day Weekend on September 2nd, 3rd, and 4th.