Armington Mail

Miguel Cabrera Hits Home Run Number 500

On Sunday, August 22nd, longtime Detroit Tigers first baseman, Miguel “Miggy” Cabrera made history as he became the 28th player in Major League Baseball history to hit 500 home runs in a career. To put it into perspective just how impressive it is for a player to hit 500 home runs in their career, the MLB has been in existence for 152 years and only 27 players have achieved that milestone, before Miguel Cabrera became the 28th. Just to give an even better understanding of how impressive this feat actually is, throughout the 152 years of Major League Baseball, there have been 18,918 players in total, so before Miggy joined the 500 home run club, there was .14% of MLB players ever to hit 500 home runs or more. Cabrera has already had a great career up to this point and hitting his 500th home run has only added to an extremely impressive 18-year career in the MLB. 

Miggy started his career with the Florida Marlins in 2003 and was a formidable force from the start, hitting 12 home runs in 87 games in his rookie year. Cabrera spent five whole seasons with the Florida Marlins and in his time there he was an MLB All Star four years in a row and won two Silver Slugger Awards. Then, in the winter after Miggy’s 2007 All-Star season, the Florida Marlins traded him to the Detroit Tigers and the rest is history. Miguel Cabrera would go on to be an MLB All Star in seven of his first nine seasons with the Tigers. In his first nine, Cabrera won five Silver Slugger Awards. He also finished top five in American League Most Valuable Player voting in five of his first nine seasons, winning the AL MVP two times in back-to-back seasons in 2012 and 2013. Even more impressive than back-to-back MVPs, Miguel Cabrera hit for what is called the Triple Crown in his 2012 MVP campaign. When a player earns a Triple Crown, it means that he had led the league in batting average, home runs, and runs batted in a season. In his 2012 Triple Crown season, Miguel Cabrera had a .330 average with 44 home runs and 139 RBIs. When Miguel Cabrera won the Triple Crown, he became the first player to earn the title since Carl Yastrzemski in 1967 and the 18th Major League Baseball player to win a Triple Crown. 

Miguel Cabrera has undoubtedly had an impressive 19-year career in the MLB. Although he just reached the huge milestone of hitting his 500th home run, Miggy is also closing in on another major accomplishment, 3,000 career hits. As of Wednesday, Cabrera is sitting at 2,957 with just over a month left in the 2021 MLB regular season. The Tigers have Miggy under contract until the 2023 season, so it is expected that Cabrera will be playing two more years with the Tigers before retiring. Not only has Cabrera had an incredibly successful career with the Tigers, he also has given back to the Detroit community multiple times throughout his time there. In 2020, Miggy and his wife donated $250k to Detroit children’s organizations in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Cabrera has always been a fan favorite because of actions like these. It’s a popular opinion amongst baseball fans that Miggy is one of the most like-able players in the MLB. For many years, Tigers fans had to bear with losing seasons, but Miggy always gave the fans a reason to watch. Even with all the hits, home runs and awards, Miggy’s favorite thing to do has always been making a special connection with his fans.