Molina has been a plus for Rangers and Giants

SAN FRANCISCO - However this World Series turns out, Bengie Molina wins.

In a manner of speaking.

The Rangers' catcher, who very well might have swung the momentum of the ALCS with his three-run homer in the sixth inning of Game 4 off A.J. Burnett, played the first 61 games of the season with the Giants before being traded to the Rangers July 1.

As a result, he'll receive a World Series ring regardless.

"It's kind of weird," the 36-year-old catcher said. "It's my reward, I guess, for all the efforts I made for helping the Giants and helping the Rangers."

Most of the help Molina provided wasn't with the bat. He hit .257 with the Giants and .240 with the Rangers, where he has platooned with Matt Treanor.

Molina tutored current Giants catcher Buster Posey, with the 23-year-old's rapid development leading to Molina being traded to the Rangers.

And that was just fine with Molina, who said Tuesday he is leaning toward retirement after this season, his 13th.

"The guy looked so ready to me," Molina said of Posey. "The guy is so good. It's an amazing story for him."

In his short time with the Rangers, he appeared to have had a positive impact, on one pitcher in particular.

While listing the reasons for his postseason success this year, last night's Rangers starter Cliff Lee spoke in mostly generalities before settling on one specific.

"Bengie Molina," said Lee, who entered last night 3-0 with a 0.75 ERA this postseason.

Members of the Giants' homegrown pitching staff have credited Molina with their development, a source of gratification for the catcher.

"I take a lot of pride in helping those guys," said Molina, a Giant for 3½ seasons starting in 2007. "They're an amazing group of guys. They listened to me. The years I was here, I had a lot of fun. The way I am, I was just trying to help those kids become better pitchers in the future."

Game 2 starter Matt Cain said he frequently used Molina as a sounding board.

"Every time I went out there and started he was the guy I was able to talk to between starts and figure things out," Cain said. "He did a great job of really opening up my eyes and I think probably a lot of other guys' eyes of how to pitch to guys."

The best of the Giants' pitching rich group, Game 1 starter and two-time NL Cy Young Award winner Tim Lincecum, said he simply wouldn't have developed into the pitcher he did without the veteran catcher.

"I've said it before and here I'm going to say it again, he's been half of the reason why I got there outside of my dad and my family and my other teammates," Lincecum said. "We had a pretty good connection there, and we still keep in touch away from ball. He's meant a lot to me, and he's meant a lot to this team. He's a part of the reason why we're here and obviously part of the reason why they're there, too."

And when the Series ends, Molina will collect his ring and, likely, call it a career.

"It's more a yes than a no right now," he said. "I'm not saying for sure because something can happen in the winter and it can get worked out. But as for now, yes."