Detroit Tigers’ Miguel Cabrera Records 3,000th Career Hit | CBC Sports

Cabrera immediately raised his right arm as he headed toward first base. The mostly packed crowd at Comerica Park gave him a standing ovation, chanting “Miggy! Miggy!” as fireworks shot off the scoreboard.

By then, every Tiger was coming off the bench to greet the newest member of baseball’s elite 3,000-hit club. Moments later, Cabrera went behind home plate to hug his mother, wife, son and daughter on the field.

Cabrera soon returned to first base, but he didn’t stay there long. He scored on a three-run homer by rookie Spencer Torkelson, 22, who took over as the Tigers’ regular first baseman with Cabrera in the designated hitter role.

As the inning ended, the scoreboard read “Congratulations Miggy” and Cabrera came out of the dugout to greet the fans who had been rewarded with the highlight they came to see.

A two-time AL MVP, Triple Crown winner and 11-time All-Star with four batting titles, Miggy’s place among the major league greats was already assured long before this afternoon in Detroit.

As a 20-year-old rookie, Cabrera helped the Florida Marlins win the 2003 World Series championship. All these years later, stamping his name on the 3,000-hit list sounded good, too.

And it will certainly look good on a plaque in Cooperstown one day.

Join the exclusive company

Cabrera became just the seventh player with 500 home runs and 3,000 hits. He joined an exclusive club with Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Eddie Murray, Rafael Palmeiro, Albert Pujols and Alex Rodríguez.

Last August in Toronto, Cabrera hit his 500th home run. He is now at 502 in his 20th season.

Cabrera is the seventh Latino player to make the 3,000 list: the hit tied him for the overall list with the late Roberto Clemente.

Pujols was the previous player to reach 3,000 hits, doing so in 2018. He was at 3,308 before Saturday and, at 42 with St. Louis, he has said this is his last season.

Robinson Cano was behind Cabrera on the active list with 2,630 as of Saturday and is 39 years old. Yadier Molina, also 39, followed with 2,116.

Among the youngest players, José Altuve (32) has 1,783 and Freddie Freeman (32) has 1,722. Mike Trout (30) was at 1,428.

Cabrera had three hits Wednesday to reach 2,999, then struck out in his final at-bat of the night. He went 0-for-3 on Thursday and was intentionally walked in his final period against the Yankees, prompting loud boos and chants from Detroit fans.

The milestone remained on deck when Friday night’s game against Colorado was rained out.

Cabrera was the third player to get his 3,000th career hit with Detroit, joining Ty Cobb and Al Kaline.

‘One of the greatest right-handed batsmen of all time’

While age has diminished his power to clear any fences and squash opposite-field shots to right center, Cabrera has enjoyed a monster career at the plate.

Cabrera became the first major league player in 45 years to win the Triple Crown by leading the league in batting average, home runs and RBI in 2012. That year, he won the first of two straight MVP awards and helped Detroit to reaching the World Series, during a stretch that included four straight division championships.

“He’s one of the all-time great right-handed hitters,” Yankees manager and former Marlins teammate Aaron Boone said this week.

“And 3,000 hits, 500 home runs, that’s obviously rarefied air. He’s done it, you know, in bigger ballparks his entire career, between Florida and here as well. You know, he’s an all-time timekeeper. He’s on that probably intimate circle, even the Hall of Fame. It’s been a special career,” Boone said.

Cabrera added to his total more often against James Shields, getting 27 hits against the former pitcher for Tampa Bay, Chicago White Sox, Kansas City and San Diego.

Detroit acquired Cabrera in a trade with the Marlins in 2007, and Dontrelle Willis also went to the Tigers in a trade for Andrew Miller and Cameron Maybin. Cabrera had 842 hits at the time.

The trade came a year after the Tigers lost the World Series to St. Louis in hopes that Cabrera would help them win the championship for the first time since 1984.

However, the Tigers never won it all with their superstar. Detroit was swept by San Francisco in the 2012 World Series and spent a decade in rebuilding mode that bottomed out with 310 losses from 2017-19.

The Tigers made bold offseason moves in a quest to be relevant with Cabrera serving as a draw to draw fans into the ballpark and hit about a ball a game on the outfield grass with clever swings after crushing balls. baseball with incredible force before. in his career.

A hot prospect in the minors, Cabrera made his major league debut in June 2003. He announced his presence to the entire baseball world in October.

Shunned by a couple of hotheads from Yankees ace Roger Clemens, Cabrera returned to hit a home run off the Rocket to help the Marlins win the World Series.

Cabrera is almost twice his age now and still a kid at heart, recently taking the outfield team’s three-wheeled bike for a ride during batting practice.

And, one of the game’s all-time greats can still get a hit against some of the best pitchers in the world.