Detroit Tigers-designated hitter Miguel Cabrera will have to wait to join the 3,000-hit club. On Thursday afternoon, Cabrera went 0 for 3 with a walk in Detroit’s win over the New York Yankees (DET 3, NYY 0). The walk is notable because the Yankees Cabrera intentionally ran with runners on the second and third and two outs in the eighth inning. The Tigers led 1-0 at this point and the train set up the left-on-left matchup featuring Lucas Luetge and Austin Meadows.
“We got a lot of respect from Meadows Behind (Cabrera),” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said after the game. “Just left left, I felt like the matchup, I just liked it better in that situation. Baseball is calling to me there. Difficult decision… A little more heartbreaking than usual.”
Cabrera will next attempt his 3,000th. hit when the Colorado Rockies travel to Detroit for a three-game interleague series this weekend. He has three games left to reach the milestone in front of a home crowd before a road trip.
The recently 39-year-old Cabrera is playing in his 20th MLB season and was originally signed by the then Florida Marlins from Venezuela. He made his big league debut in 2003, just months after celebrating his 20th birthday. His first hit, as luck would have it, was a walk-off home run. Cabrera scored three goals on Wednesday night for a total of 2,999.
Cabrera spent a total of five years with the Marlins, earning the Most Valuable Player award in each of them. He finished his Florida career with career grades of 842 hits and 138 homers and a .313/.388/.542 slash line (143 OPS+).
The Marlins traded Cabrera and left-hander Dontrelle Willis to the Tigers in December 2007. In return, Florida received Andrew Miller and Cameron Maybin, among others.
Cabrera has spent the last 14 years with the Tigers and amassed a .310/.387/.528 (145 OPS+) slash. Just last season, Cabrera hit his 500th career home run. Cabrera will become just the seventh member of the 3,000-hit club to also have 500 or more homers, joining Henry Aaron, Alex Rodriguez, Albert Pujols, Willie Mays, Rafael Palmeiro and Eddie Murray.
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During Cabrera’s time in Detroit, he has won two MVP awards (the more notable one coming as part of his Triple Crown win in 2013) and has brought his career to 11 All-Star Game appearances, seven Silver Slugger Awards and four batting titles overall.