‘Miggy’ adds name to 500-homer club
TORONTO — Miguel Cabrera celebrated with his Tigers teammates. He took a curtain call on the road. He paid tribute to his family, his team and his native country.
It was quite a day, even for one of baseball’s most accomplished sluggers.
Cabrera became the 28th major-leaguer to hit 500 home runs, reaching the milestone in the sixth inning of the Tigers’ 5-3, 11-inning victory Sunday against the Blue Jays.
The 38-year-old Cabrera connected on a 1-1 pitch from left-hander Steven Matz, sending the ball over the scoreboard in right-center field. Measured at 400 feet, the homer tied the score at 1.
Many of the 14,685 fans at Rogers Centre rose for a standing ovation as Cabrera rounded the bases. After celebrating with his teammates, he came out of the dugout to accept a curtain call, taking off his helmet and bowing to the crowd.
Cabrera, who won the Triple Crown and the first of back-to-back MVP awards in 2012, is the first Venezuelan to hit 500 homers. He’s hoping to become the first hitter to reach 500 homers and 3,000 hits in the same season.
“It’s something special for my country, for my family, to be able to do this,” he said. “I’m really happy.”
Jeimer Candelario, who was on deck, was the first teammate to celebrate with him.
“When he hit that ball, I knew something special was about to happen and history was about to happen,” Candelario said. “For me, being a part of that is a blessing. It helped us to win a ballgame, too.”
Cabrera’s 500th home run was hit No. 2,955 of his career, and he can reach that 3,000 milestone this year, too, if he can stay healthy and average one hit per game. Only six players have 3,000 hits and 500 homers: Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Rafael Palmeiro, Albert Pujols, Alex Rodriguez and Eddie Murray.
His pursuit of these big numbers has become a bright spot for a Detroit team that finally seems to be emerging from a difficult rebuild, approaching a .500 record.
Cabrera is the sixth player born outside the United States to reach 500 homers. He joins Pujols, Palmeiro, Sammy Sosa, Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz, who reached the mark in 2015 and was the last to pull off the feat before Cabrera.
He also is the first player to reach the mark in a Tigers uniform.
“So proud for him and his family, and a career accomplishment so rare you may never get to be a part of this again,” manager A.J. Hinch said. “We have no idea who the next person can be to pass this big number.”
In 2012, Cabrera became the first player in 45 years to win the Triple Crown by leading the league in batting average, home runs and RBI. When Cabrera made his major-league debut with the Marlins in 2003, he was just 20 years old. He helped them win the World Series that year. The Tigers acquired him in a trade with the Marlins in 2007.