Cabrera joins elite group after getting 3,000th hit
DETROIT — Tigers star Miguel Cabrera delivered the 3,000th hit of his decorated career Saturday, becoming the 33rd major leaguer to reach the mark and the first player from Venezuela to accomplish the feat.
Still imposing at 39, Cabrera made history by grounding an oppositefield single to right through the shift in the first inning of Detroit’s 13-0 win against Colorado in Game 1 of their doubleheader.
The crowd of 37,566 at Comerica Park gave him a rousing ovation and chanted “Miggy! Miggy!” while fireworks were shot off.
The hit came on a 1-1 pitch from Antonio Senzatela, a fellow Venezuelan.
By then, all the Tigers were streaming from the dugout to greet the newest member of baseball’s elite 3,000-hit club.
Cabrera, however, wasn’t quite done. He added a two-run single in the sixth, exited for a pinch-runner and drew another huge cheer. He would later single in his first at-bat in the second game, too.
A two-time AL MVP, a Triple Crown winner and an 11-time All-Star with four batting titles, Miggy’s place among the MLB greats already was assured long before Saturday.
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 Rodriguez.
“He is one of the great right-handed hitters ever,” Yankees manager and former Marlins teammate Aaron Boone said.
“And 3,000 hits, 500 homers, that’s obviously rarefied air. He’s done it, you know, in bigger ballparks his entire career, between Florida and here also. You know, he’s an all-timer. He’s in that, probably inner circle, of even the Hall of Fame. It’s been a special career,” Boone said.