There is a new member of baseball's hallowed 3,000-hit club.
Saturday against the Colorado Rockies, Detroit Tigers designated hitter Miguel Cabrera slapped a single in his first at-bat of the game for his milestone 3,000th career hit. He is the 33rd member of Major League Baseball's 3,000-hit club.
Here is Cabrera's historic 3,000th hit, which came in front of the home crowd at Comerica Park:
The milestone hit comes one day after the series opener with the Rockies was postponed due to rain, and two days after the Yankees intentionally walked Cabrera when he was sitting on 2,999 hits. New York trailed Thursday's game 1-0 at the time and the Tigers had runners on second and third with two outs in the eighth inning. The move gave the Yankees the left-on-left matchup against Austin Meadows. Strategically, it was a sensible move, though it did backfire when Meadows doubled in two runs.
"We got a lot of respect for Meadows behind (Cabrera)," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said after the game. "Just left on left, I felt like the matchup, I just liked it better in that situation. Baseball call for me there. Tough decision ... Little more gut-wrenching than usual."
Cabrera certainly did not limp to 3,000 hits. He had eight hits in his previous six games going into Saturday, including a three-hit performance Wednesday night to get to 2,999 hits. In addition to being the 33rd member of the 3,000-hit club, Cabrera is the seventh Latino player to reach the historic milestone. Here are the other six:
Albert Pujols: 3,308 (and counting)Adrián Beltré: 3,166Alex Rodriguez: 3,115Rod Carew: 3,053Rafael Palmeiro: 3,020Roberto Clemente: 3,000Carew and Clemente are in the Hall of Fame and Beltré and Pujols will join them as soon as they're eligible. Because of their performance-enhancing drug ties, Palmeiro has already fallen off the Hall of Fame ballot and Rodriguez appears unlikely to be voted in. Cabrera, needless to say, will one day join Carew and Clemente (and Beltré and Pujols) in Cooperstown.
Cabrera, who turned 39 on April 18 and is playing in his 20th MLB season, was originally signed by the then-Florida Marlins out of Venezuela. He made his big-league debut in 2003, just months after celebrating his 20th birthday. His first hit, as fate would have it, was a walk-off home run.
Cabrera spent five years with the Marlins in total, receiving Most Valuable Player Award consideration in each of them. He wrapped up his career in Florida with career marks of 842 hits and 138 home runs, as well as a slash line of .313/.388/.542 (143 OPS+).
The Marlins traded Cabrera and left-handed starter Dontrelle Willis to the Tigers in December 2007. Florida received in return, among others, Andrew Miller and Cameron Maybin.
Cabrera has spent the past 14-plus years with the Tigers, amassing a .310/.387/.528 (145 OPS+) slash line. Just last season, Cabrera hit his 500th career home run. Cabrera, as a result, is just the seventh member of the 3,000-hit club to have also homered 500 or more times, 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's won a pair of MVP Awards (the more notable one coming as part of his Triple Crown victory in 2013) and ran his career totals to 11 All-Star Game appearances, seven Silver Slugger Awards, and four batting titles.
Who might be next after Cabrera to get to 3,000 hits? It's hard to say. New York Mets second baseman Robinson Canó is the closest, but he's 39 years old and hasn't yet reached 2,700 career knocks. No other active player has as many as 2,200 hits.
