Detroit Tigers’ Miguel Cabrera joins elite club with 3,000th hit

Detroit – Detroit Tigers slugger Miguel Cabrera joined Major League Baseball’s elite 3,000-hit club on Saturday, becoming just the 33rd player to reach the milestone.

The 39-year-old became just the seventh player to achieve 3,000 career hits and 500 home runs, joining Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Albert Pujols, Eddie Murray, Alex Rodriguez and Rafael Palmeiro.

“Special numbers,” Cabrera said after the Tigers completed a 13-0 victory over the Colorado Rockies in the first game of a doubleheader.

Cabrera, the first Venezuelan to record 3,000 hits in the major leagues, singled to right field off compatriot Antonio Senzatela in his first at bat in the contest at Detroit’s Comerica Park, punching a 1-1 fastball and holding one arm into the air as he headed to first base.

The crowd of 37,566 chanted “Miggy! Miggy! as his Tigers teammates poured onto the field to congratulate him.

Colorado shortstop and former Tiger Jose Iglesias was there for a hug, too.

Cabrera then celebrated behind home plate with his wife, Rosangel, mother Gregoria Torres, daughter Brisel and son Christopher.

When an emotional Cabrera returned to first base, former Tiger C.J. Cron pretended to check his pulse.

“To be able to look over there and see 3,000, it was really special,” Cabrera said.

The two-time American League Most Valuable Player and winner of the 2012 American League Triple Crown, joined St. Louis Cardinals designated hitter Albert Pujols as the only active players with 3,000 hits.

Only three other active players — Robinson Cano, Yadier Molina and Joey Votto — have as many as 2,000.

Cabrera had put himself on the brink of 3,000 with singles in his first three at-bats on Wednesday in the Tigers’ 5-3 loss to the New York Yankees.

He was 0-for-3 at the plate with an intentional walk in Thursday’s 3-0 victory over New York.

Cabrera made his major league debut in 2003, joining the then-Florida Marlins and winning a World Series title with them before being traded to the Tigers after the 2007 season.

As the 3,000-hit milestone approached he has shied away from talking about it, preferring to focus on the team’s goals.

But Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said this week he has urged Cabrera’s younger teammates to take notice of what they are seeing.

“It’s incredible when you look at it,” Hinch said. “I think as coaches and me as a manager, the older that we all are, the more that we can appreciate things that happened a while back.

“Just trying to get these players to understand the names that are up on the board that he’s passing, the rarity of what you’re actually seeing in the flesh, watching him handle it with such joy.

“There’s 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.

“You can put it in that perspective. It’s pretty amazing that we get to be a part of it.”

Source : Baseball – The Japan Times