Miguel Cabrera

BIOGRAPHY

Miguel Cabrera was born April 18, 1983, in Maracay, Venezuela. He is a first baseman in the MLB.

Since his debut in 2003 he has been a two-time American League (AL) Most Valuable Player (MVP) award winner, a four-time AL batting champion, and an 11-time MLB All-Star. He has played at first and third base for most of his major league career, but primarily played left and right field before 2006. He claimed the 17th MLB Triple Crown in 2012, the first to do so in 45 seasons.

In the Venezuelan Winter League (Liga de Beisbol Profesional de Venezuela), Cabrera was signed by Tigres de Aragua at 16 years old. He batted his first hit in LVBP in December 1999.

Cabrera was signed in 1999 as an amateur free agent by the Florida Marlins, and progressed through their minor league system. He made his MLB debut in mid-2003 at the age of 20, and contributed to the Marlins' World Series success later that year. Over the next four seasons, Cabrera was a regular player for the Marlins before being traded to the Detroit Tigers in late 2007. In 2012, Cabrera became the first player since 1967 to win the batting Triple Crown, leading the AL with a .330 batting average, 44 home runs, and 139 runs batted in (RBI), earning him the AL MVP award that year. In 2013, Cabrera improved on his previous year's batting performance, including a career-high .348 batting average, and received another AL MVP award.

Cabrera has won four AL batting titles, including three in consecutive seasons (2011–2013). He has hit 30 or more home runs in ten separate seasons, driven in over 100 runs in 12 separate seasons (including 11 consecutive seasons, 2004–2014), and has a career .313 batting average through 2020. Through 2020, he has the 34th-highest career slugging percentage of all baseball players (.5399).

He joined the 500 home run club in 2021 and the 3,000 hit club in 2022; he is the seventh player in MLB history to reach both milestones.

On April 23, 2022, Cabrera recorded his 3,000th career hit against Antonio Senzatela of the Colorado Rockies, an opposite-field single in the bottom of the first inning. He became the 33rd player in MLB history to join the 3,000 hit club, and the seventh player in MLB history to record 500 home runs and 3,000 hits, joining Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Albert Pujols, Eddie Murray, Rafael Palmeiro, and Alex Rodriguez.

On May 7, Cabrera recorded his 600th career double, becoming the third player in MLB history to record 3,000 hits, 600 doubles, and 500 home runs, following Hank Aaron and Albert Pujols. He is also the first player in MLB history to record 3,000 hits, 600 doubles, 500 homers, and at least 1 Triple Crown. On June 28, Cabrera had two hits to move past Rickey Henderson into the Top 25 on the all-time MLB hits list (3,056). On July 8, Cabrera was named to the 2022 MLB All-Star Game as an honorary selection along with Albert Pujols by commissioner Rob Manfred, who was allowed to do so after the 2022 Collective Bargaining Agreement. In his only All-Star game plate appearance, Cabrera grounded out to shortstop. On July 25, Cabrera hit a solo home run for his 1,840th RBI, moving him into the Top 15 on the all-time list.

After being relegated to part-time duty in August, Cabrera was placed on the 10-day injured list on September 3 with a left biceps strain. He returned to the Tigers lineup on September 19. Cabrera hit .254 for the season with 5 home runs and 43 RBI in 397 at-bats. At season's end, he ranks in the all-time top 25 in several hitting categories: hits (3,088; 24th), doubles (607; 14th), RBI (1,847; 14th), extra-base hits (1,131; 16th) and total bases (5,250; 16th). He also moved up to 27th all-time in home runs (507).

In November 2022, Cabrera announced that he would likely retire after the 2023 season, his final contracted year with the Tigers.