Miguel Cabrera debuted for the Marlins as a 20-year-old outfielder. He was signed by the team as a 16-year-old shortstop. And once upon a time, he was only destined for the big leagues as a pitcher -- at least according to the expert eye of a scout for the Yankees.
The same Yankees that Cabrera would sink with the Marlins in the 2003 World Series, the same Yankees he would sink with the Tigers in the playoffs in 2011 and 2012, the same Yankees that might become a footnote in his Hall of Fame story when Cabrera goes for his 3,000th hit Thursday at Comerica Park.
Before Thursday's game against New York, Cabrera recalled the story of the Yankees scout who told him as a teenage slugger in Venezuela, "If you make it, it's going to be as a pitcher."
"They fired that guy," Cabrera told reporters on hand.
(That same scout told a young Justin Verlander he'd only make it as a hitter.)
Tigers GM Al Avila was the director of scouting for the Marlins when they signed Cabrera in 1999, a strong believer in his bat. And he was assistant GM for the Tigers when they traded for Cabrera in 2007 at the behest of then-owner Mike Ilitch.
By then, Cabrera was already on his way to becoming just the seventh player in MLB history with 3,000 hits and 500 homers, a journey he stands to complete on Thursday against the team that told him to pitch.
