Future Hall of Famer Miguel Cabrera Reaches 3,000 Hit Milestone
On a hot summer night in Miami Gardens almost twenty years ago, Miguel Cabrera wrote the storybook opening to his major league career that most ball players can only dream of.
In his MLB debut, the Florida Marlins rookie stepped into the batter’s box in the bottom of the eleventh inning, trailing by a run, with the home crowd roaring in support. Tampa Bay Rays’ Al Levine tossed a pitch right down the center of the plate and the 20-year-old Cabrera absolutely tore the stitching out of it, launching it over the centerfield wall for the walk-off home run, a Marlins victory and his first big league hit. The Venezuelan hard hitter had put the world on notice, and everyone could tell right away how special he was going to be.
That was June 20, 2003. Fast forward to this Saturday and we were able to witness just how extraordinary his 19-year journey has been as he was able to notch his 3,000th career hit. The elusive career milestone comes less than a year after the slugger cranked out his 500th home run last August. He is just the 33rd player in baseball history to reach the 3,000-hit mark and only the seventh to do it while also smashing 500 home runs. Among his career accolades are two AL MVP awards, four AL batting titles, one triple crown (led AL in batting avg/home runs/rbi), and a 2003 World Series championship with the Florida Marlins.
He burst onto the major league scene as a Marlin, winning the World Series title in his rookie year. He would spend five memorable years in Miami before a blockbuster trade at the end of 2007 sent him to the Detroit Tigers, where he spent the last 14 years of his illustrious career and became a local hero.
Through it all, Cabrera has managed to maintain an unreal .310 batting average, the highest of any active player with over 3,000 plate appearances. Not to mention a better average than Yankee great Derek Jeter. What makes his average even more incredible is that he owns more than 11,000 plate appearances (PA), one of the highest PA counts on the list of history’s most efficient hitters. This means that Cabrera has been able to maintain his stellar output for as much as twice the time as some of baseballs’ legends, who might have a higher career average. The man they call “Miggy” has been giving pitchers nightmares for two decades. Saturday, in front of his home crowd once again, his efforts culminated in this historic hit milestone.
In Saturday’s game against the Colorado Rockies, Cabrera took pitcher Antonio Senzatela’s 1-1 fastball and sent it the opposite way to right field, a strategy that has defined his career. His 3,000th hit was a ground ball with a meager 86 mph exit velocity, but because of Cabrera’s pinpoint precision, there were no fielders in the vicinity to put a glove on it.
Cabrera’s ability to put the ball where the defense isn’t is a result of tireless dedication to his craft and a fierce plate discipline. The 6’4” righty towers over many of his MLB counterparts but attributes his success to hitting like a small guy. “I don't care how tall or how big you are” preaches Cabrera, “if you're going to hit for average and power, you have to be short to the ball. That's it. Short to the ball, simple as that.”
There aren’t many better to get slugging advice from than Cabrera, something that Tigers manager AJ Hinch believes has been invaluable for his young Detroit team. “There [are] so many lessons to take away from it, but just soaking it up and enjoying every minute of it. These players, Miggy might be the first Hall of Famer they've ever played with” said Hinch, “You can put it in that perspective. It's pretty amazing that we get to be a part of it.”
Although the past few years have been a bit rocky for the Tigers, Detroit fans will remember fondly the 2012 season that saw Cabrera win his first career MVP and carry the Tigers to the World Series before ultimately falling to the San Francisco Giants. The first baseman and designated hitter is a beloved figure in Detroit sports culture and Tigers general manager, Al Avila, believes it stems from Cabrera’s authentic character. “His humility, passion for having fun and genuine love of the city of Detroit are completely unmatched” said Avila, who was the Marlins scouting director that signed the Venezuelan slugger to his rookie contract as a teenager.
Miggy is one of the few players in the league that is universally loved. No matter what stadium he walks into, he’s greeted with cheers and showered with adulation. His former team, now named the Miami Marlins, still holds deep ties to the eleven-time All-Star. Current Marlins captain and shortstop Miguel Rojas, a friend of Cabrera and fellow Venezuelan native, put his pal’s chase for 3,000 into perspective.
“All of us Venezuelans feel so proud of the way that Miguel Cabrera is reaching more and more goals…It’s becoming the whole Venezuelan country represented by him. We all get excited. When he started reaching those goals and getting closer to that [milestone], every at-bat paralyzed the whole country. Everybody’s watching. He’s a big figure, not just in baseball, but outside the game as well because of all the things that he’s done in Venezuela.”
Cabrera has another year remaining on his contract with the Tigers and has expressed his intention to play out the remainder of his deal before hanging up the cleats. "I would say thank God for the opportunity and I say two more years and I'm done” said the seasoned veteran last year after hitting his 500th deep ball. If he retires in 2023, we’ll undoubtedly be watching his Hall of Fame acceptance speech in Cooperstown some time in 2029 when he’ll become eligible for the honor.
With next year likely to be his last professional season, Miguel Cabrera is taking a moment to stop and smell the roses but still has one item on his career wish list. A World Series trophy for Detroit. "But I'm going to feel more proud if in my last two years here in Detroit we can win a championship. Because the city of Detroit, the Tigers' organization, they deserve this. They deserve a championship” asserts Cabrera. "I hope we can do it."
