Miguel Cabrera has 3,000 hits. The future Hall of Famer reached the prestigious milestone with a first-inning single off Colorado Rockies starter Antonio Senzatela Saturday afternoon in Detroit. Cabrera, 38, is the 33rd player to reach the milestone and the first Venezuelan. A double made him the third player in Major League history with 3,000 hits, 500 home runs, and 600 doubles. Furthermore, he is the seventh member of the 3,000 hit club to have 500 home runs or more. “Miggy” joins Hank Aaron, Álex Rodríguez, Albert Pujols, Willie Mays, Rafael Palmeiro, and Eddie Murray. He is also the third to join the club as a member of the Detroit Tigers, joining Hall of Famers Ty Cobb and Al Kaline.
The magic number came down to one after Cabrera singled in his first three at-bats Wednesday night against the New York Yankees. He collected hits 2,987, 2,998, and 2,999 in the 5-3 victory. When he came up the fourth time, he struck out.
Origins of Miguel Cabrera
Signed by the Miami Marlins as an amateur free agent, Cabrera emerged as one of the most feared hitters in baseball. In his first five years with the Marlins, he captured his first 842 hits while helping them to their second World Series title. Overall, his slash line was .313/.388/.542 with a 143 OPS+.
Cabrera was more successful after he and left-handed pitcher Dontrelle Willis were traded to the Detroit Tigers. From 2010-to-2016, he was a seven-time All-Star as a Tiger. Plus, he went on to win back-to-back AL MVP Awards while winning the AL Triple Crown in 2013. Last season, he hit his 500th career home run off Steven Matz of the Toronto Blue Jays. Cabrera is the 28th player to reach the milestone.
Who will be the next player after Cabrera to reach 3,000 hits? That’s a good question, and it’s hard to say. Of all active players, New York Mets second baseman Robinson Canó is the closest. However, he’s 39 years old and is 71 hits shy of 2,700. No other active player has more than 2,220 hits.
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Players mentioned:
Miguel Cabrera, Antonio Senzatela, Hank Aaron, Álex Rodríguez, Albert Pujols, Willie Mays, Rafael Palmeiro, Eddie Murray, Ty Cobb, Al Kaline, Dontrelle Willis, Steven Matz, Robinson Canó
