Miguel Cabrera's 500th home run is a major milestone for the city of Detroit
By Ben Verlander
FOX Sports Baseball Analyst
When Miguel Cabrera’s 500th home run sailed over the fence Sunday afternoon in Toronto, the city of Detroit rejoiced for the first time in a while.
It has been a long journey for Cabrera, who has been a Detroit Tiger since 2008. He has been through some highs, and he has been through some lows. The Tigers put together a dominant run from 2011 to 2014, reaching the American League Championship Series three times and the World Series once. But for the past six seasons, it has been a struggle for this team to win games, and many players have come and gone.
Cabrera, however, has stayed through it all.
In 2016, he signed a mega-contract keeping him in Detroit through at least the 2023 season. And though the wins have been few and far between for the Tigers lately, on Sunday in Toronto, not only did Cabrera triumph, but so too did the city itself.
Detroit needed this. Ever since Miggy started approaching the historic milestone of 500 home runs, the baseball energy in the city has been back. As one Michigander told me, "The buzz in downtown Detroit before games has been unlike what we have seen in years — not since those playoff teams."
For more up-to-date news on all things MLB, click here to register for alerts on the FOX Sports app!
Miggy is larger than life in Detroit — and for good reason. During his tenure in Detroit, Miggy has won four Silver Slugger Awards, made seven All-Star Games and won the American League Most Valuable Player Award twice.
When Cabrera was traded to the Tigers, my brother’s career was off and running in the Motor City. At the time, in 2008, I was 16 years old and trying to make my way as a baseball player. I remember walking in the Tigers locker room and meeting Cabrera for the first time like it was yesterday.
For years, I would go into that clubhouse and hit in the batting cages, and often, I would find Miggy there. We had many conversations over the years about hitting and his approach at the plate, and those are moments I will cherish forever.
He once told me that he often knows what the pitcher is going to throw before the pitcher knows what he’s going to throw.
Of course he has an incredible swing, but Cabrera's mentality at the plate is what makes him one of the best hitters the game has ever seen.
He also said he would sometimes intentionally set pitchers up. He would take a swing that looked really bad, knowing that later in the game, the pitcher would come back to it.
When he did, Miggy was ready.
Years later, in 2013, I was drafted by the Tigers, and I played in the organization for five years. Being able to see Cabrera every day taught me one thing: Nobody has more fun playing the game of baseball than he does.
Miggy's enthusiasm was contagious. He welcomed young players and new draftees with open arms. And whether by watching him in the cages at spring training in Lakeland, Florida, or seeing his work ethic in the weight room, we all learned a lot from him.
The coolest part was that it didn’t matter who you were. If you were in the locker room that day, Miguel Cabrera would make a point to come over and shake your hand and welcome you with open arms.
He has made a mark on the Tigers organization far greater than most could imagine.
This milestone 500th home run is a remarkable feat in the Hall of Fame career of Miguel Cabrera, and it’s also a remarkable feat in the history of the Detroit Tigers.
Cabrera is the first player to achieve this feat who played the bulk of his career with the Tigers. Eddie Matthews and Gary Sheffield both reached the 500-homer mark, but they are primarily known for their careers elsewhere.
Miggy, however, is a Detroit Tiger through and through, and one day, when that call to Cooperstown comes, he will go in as a Tiger.
For more up-to-date news on all things Tigers, click here to register for alerts on the FOX Sports app!
It’s no secret that Cabrera is now on the back end of his career, a career more decorated than that of most anyone to play the game. What's interesting is that this historic milestone marks a turning of the tide for a franchise that is once again on the rise.
The buzz is back in Detroit. In the final couple of years on Cabrera's contract, this team is primed and ready to be good. The next generation of Tigers is right around the corner, and fans are excited about the future of Tigers baseball. I hope Cabrera gets to be part of the team’s success one last time.
But on Sunday, it wasn't about the future. On this night, it was about one of the greatest players in the history of the franchise doing something that only 27 other big leaguers have ever accomplished.
There’s also another milestone on the horizon — one that might become increasingly rare, as the game has certainly changed. Cabrera is fewer than 50 hits away from 3,000, a mark reached by only 32 players in the history of baseball.
If and when Miggy accomplishes this feat, he will be only the seventh player in MLB history with both 500 home runs and 3,000 hits, joining Hank Aaron, Alex Rodriguez, Albert Pujols, Willie Mays, Rafael Palmeiro and Eddie Murray.
Special.
And that's exactly what Cabrera is to the Tigers and the city of Detroit.
It has been an honor to watch him over the course of his career, and now, he's giving Tigers fans a reason to laugh and cry and cheer for the first time in nearly six years.
From someone who got to know him and got to talk to him and got to watch the majority of his career, thank you, Miggy.
I feel comfortable saying that on behalf of all of Detroit.
Ben Verlander is an MLB Analyst for FOX Sports and the host of the "Flippin' Bats" podcast. Born and raised in Richmond, Virginia, Verlander was an All-American at Old Dominion University before he joined his brother, Justin, in Detroit as a 14th-round pick of the Tigers in 2013. He spent five years in the Tigers organization. Follow him on Twitter @Verly32.
