The 3,000 Hit Club just got more fun.
On Saturday, Miguel Cabrera got his 3,000th hit and became the 33rd member of an exclusive group of baseball players. With it, baseball celebrates the career of one of baseball’s greatest right-handed hitters and all-around fun guys. Which is a great thing.
Cabrera has long been identified for his smile, his happy attitude on the diamond, and his friendships in the sport. Call him the Anti-ARod: Cabrera is universally beloved and honored for his accomplishments and his approach to the game.
By stroking his milestone hit in a Tigers uniform, Cabrera becomes the third Detroit player to get his 3,000th hit, joining Al Kaline and Ty Cobb. For several years of his career in Detroit, Cabrera was mentored by Kaline, who saw a “big kid” in the superstar everyone calls “Miggy.”
While he won a World Series title as a rookie with the Marlins, the best seasons of Cabrera’s career have come in Detroit. In December of 2007 at the winter meetings, the Tigers shocked baseball with a multi-player trade that brought Cabrera to Detroit. He was just 24 years old at the time with a .313 career batting average and four straight 100-RBI seasons. But things got even better in the Motor City.
In his first season as a Tiger, Miggy won the home run title. The next season he hit .324 with 198 hits. The following season in 2010, Cabrera led the league in RBI and slugging, and also had 45 doubles and 38 homers. He won the first of four batting titles in 2011, and in 2012 he broke the record book when he captured the triple crown, the first time a batter had led his league in batting, homers, and RBI in the same season in 45 years. The next season, Miggy played almost two months with a broken foot but still batted .348 with 44 homers and 137 RBI. He won his second consecutive MVP Award.
The arrival of Cabrera in Detroit coincided with the resurrection of the franchise: the team won division titles in 2011, 2012, 2013, and again in 2014. Cabrera helped the team to a pennant in 2012.
In 2021, Cabrera hit his 500th home run, and combined with his 3,000th hit, the slugger is now one of only seven players to reach both milestones.
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