Molitor played several positions during his career. He started out as a second baseman and then was moved to third base at the age of 25. During the latter half of his career, he was used primarily as a designated hitter.
Molitor was part of a young Milwaukee Brewers team which lost the 1982 World Series in seven games to the St. Louis Cardinals. He hit .302 and led the American League with 136 runs scored. He had several seasons early in his career which were severely shortened by injuries, including 1980, 1981, 1984, 1986 and 1987. After moving to designated hitter his injury problems seemed to go away. Molitor was acquired through free agency by the Toronto Blue Jays in December 1992, and was a key part of the Blue Jays second World Championship. Molitor won the World Series MVP award for hitting .500 in the series. He left the Blue Jays after the 1995 season and joined his home town Minnesota Twins for the final three seasons of his career.
Molitor's lifetime statistics include 2683 games played, 1782 runs scored, 3319 hits, 234 home runs, 1307 runs batted in, a .306 batting average, and 504 stolen bases. He batted .368 in 5 postseason series and was an all-star seven times. He was also the first and, so far, only member of the 3,000-hit club to reach 3,000 with a triple.