#Shortstops: Miggy’s Milestone
Baseball is filled with statistical milestones, but perhaps the 500-home run club and the 3,000-hit club have always been two of the game’s most unique clubs.
Only 28 players have joined the 500-home run club, and only 33 players have reached the 3,000-it milestone. Before April 2022, only six players had reached the historic milestone of 3,000 hits and 500 home runs in their career: Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Eddie Murray, Rafael Palmeiro, Albert Pujols and Álex Rodríguez.
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Cabrera hit his 500th home run on Aug. 22, 2021, at Toronto. This historic milestone made him the first Venezuelan-born player to hit 500 home runs.
Despite being at Rogers Center, the crowd was comprised of fans hoping to see one of the great hitters of this generation reach a career milestone.
Tigers fans and Blue Jays fans alike gave Cabrera a standing ovation.
Less than a year later, on April 23, 2022, Cabrera reached another elite plateau.
Sitting on 2,999 career hits to begin the game, Tigers fans at Comerica Park waited in anticipation for Cabrera’s 3,000th hit.
The fans were not left waiting long, as Cabrera hit an opposite-field single in the first inning against the Colorado Rockies.
A seventh member of the club, Miguel Cabrera, was initiated in 2022. And the Hall of Fame preserves artifacts from both achievements.
In his long tenure with the Detroit Tigers, Cabrera has reached many milestones and career achievements.
Cabrera was voted the American League Most Valuable Player in 2012, the same year he won the Triple Crown, becoming the first player to do so in more than 40 years.
Additionally, Cabrera was voted the AL MVP in 2013. On top of this illustrious resume, Cabrera has won multiple batting titles and silver slugger awards. A perennial All-Star, it seemed only a matter of time until Cabrera joined the 500 home run club.
It was a time of celebration for Cabrera, Tigers fans, teammates, and even former teammates; as former Tigers teammate José Iglesias, now a Rockies player, was the first person to embrace him on the field.
Fireworks were set off over Comerica Park to celebrate this momentous occasion.
Not only was Cabrera joining the 3,000 hit club, but he was also joining an even more elite fraternity of players to total both 500 home runs and 3,000 hits.
The Hall of Fame’s collection features the helmet Cabrera wore for his 500th home run and the jersey he wore when he recorded his 3,000th hit.
Kylie Dasher was a 2022 public programs intern in the Hall of Fame’s Frank and Peggy Steele Internship Program for Youth Leadership Development
