They lined up in all directions, coming from all places. They encircled Comerica, to wrap their arms around a legend. The fans arrived in droves, wearing his name and number on their backs like the emotions on his sleeve. And then they stood and roared as No. 24, Miguel Cabrera, came to the plate for the final time in his career.
Cabrera would admit his heart was pounding. He would call it the "hardest game I ever played in my life," after spending most of his life making it look easy. He was so unnerved that the Hall of Famer would say he was "swinging at everything," desperate to give 44,000 fans one more reason to cheer. They really didn't need one.
"It feels like I’m a part of this city," said Cabrera. "Detroit’s like my house."
Comerica is his Park, where the air on Sunday was thick with emotion. The entire town had something to say, if it could just swallow the lump in its throat. Cabrera's children surprised him by announcing his name in the starting lineup. The fans surprised him by holding colored cards above their heads that spelled out their gratitude: Gracias Miggy! But nothing surprised Cabrera more than getting the call in the eighth to play first base, and then taking the field all by himself. He had to borrow Spencer Torkelson's glove.
Torkelson, 24, grew up idolizing Cabrera. They met three years ago when Torkelson took batting practice for the first time at Comerica Park, shortly after the Tigers had drafted him first overall. Immediately afterward, Torkelson called his parents and bragged, "I just met Miguel Cabrera." Cabrera would become a crutch for Torkelson when he struggled through his first season and a half in the big leagues.
"He's impacted my career probably more than he knows," Torkelson said. "He would always tell me that he had confidence in me and to trust it, and that he’s seen a lot of baseball and he believes in me. Just hearing that from him really helped me out."
Torkelson's numbers improved dramatically in the second half of this season. Cabrera's are sometimes hard to believe. The tighter you pinch them the more they pop. 500 homers, 3,000 hits and a lifetime .300 average? Hank Aaron, Willie Mays and Miguel Cabrera. 500 homers, 3,000 hits and multiple batting titles? Hank Aaron and Miguel Cabrera. 500 homers, 3,000 hits and a Triple Crown? Miguel Cabrera. He is one-of-one among more than 20,000 players in MLB history.
Tarik Skubal can still feel the hand on his shoulder, three years later. He was eating breakfast in the team dining room with Casey Mize and Matt Manning on the second day of his first big-league camp with the Tigers, already full of nerves. He figured the hand belong to someone he knew. When he turned around, “I was like, ‘Holy sh*t.’”
"My heart dropped,” Skubal said. “I lost my appetite. One of the first times in my life I was starstruck. This is a guy I watched win the Triple Crown when I was a senior in high school. I followed the whole chase, you know? So it immediately feels like your heart’s racing 160 beats per minute.”
Skubal stood up and shook Cabrera’s hand, trying to play it cool. He doesn’t exactly remember the conversation, he said, “just how I felt.” When it was over, Skubal said he “got up, threw my food out because I wasn’t hungry anymore, and went about my day like, ‘Miggy’s here.’”
He got here in 2007, via the Marlins and from Maracay, Venezuela, where his mother had taught him how to hit and how to have fun. He never lost sight of either. Back at first base Sunday for the first time in two years, Cabrera immediately had a grounder hit his way. He backhanded it and bounded to the bag with his right arm raised in the air, then continued down the line and pounded his chest to the fans. The 40-year-old loved the game like a boy to the end.
"I made a nice play, too!" he beamed.
"I haven't ever had chills for that long," said Torkelson. "Him getting the ball hit to him, all of us were in shock. That was insane."
Matthew Boyd can still see him in the corner locker, eight years later. Boyd had just arrived in Detroit's clubhouse for the first time, set to make his Tigers debut that night, and word came down minutes later that Dave Dombrowski had been fired. As Boyd tried to make sense of everything, Cabrera was the first one that came up to him and said, "Hey, welcome," and then introduced him around the clubhouse. Greetings done with, Cabrera left Boyd with this: "Hey, we're here to win."
The Tigers won frequently in Cabrera's prime, and very little in his decline. The crash was sudden. In 2014, Cabrera was a year removed from his second straight MVP season and the Tigers were coming off their fourth straight division title. He would play nine more years and never make the playoffs again, his talent drained by aching knees, his team toppled by a rebuild. As the hits faded, the smile didn't.
Jake Rogers can still feel the nerves, five years later. He was in his first spring training with the Tigers after arriving via trade the season prior and itching like a Little Leaguer to meet "a guy that I've loved my entire life." Cabrera was right there in the clubhouse every day, but Rogers was too scared to approach him. When the young catcher finally worked up the courage to introduce himself, Cabrera burst out laughing, gave him a hug and said, "I've been waiting for you to come talk to me for a year!"
"Just a little kid at heart," said Rogers.
The late Al Kaline called Cabrera "the greatest right-handed hitter I ever saw." And Kaline saw a whole lot of Aaron and Mays. Greatness is fleeting, which is why it's so special. In the final game of his career, Cabrera struck out twice and popped out. In his final plate appearance, he walked on four pitches. He was grinning, but not quite kidding, when he said, "That walk made my day!" So did the fact that the Tigers won, 5-2 over Cleveland.
Cabrera regrets that he never won a World Series in Detroit, something he ached to do for the late Mike Ilitch. While that hurts, his heart was full as he left the field for the last time. On the eve of the end, he told his family and a few friends, "I'm lucky, because I played 21 years in the big leagues. I played with love and I played hard." This town loved him back.
"I knew I wasn’t playing the same the last few years, so to be able to come here and get the chance to say goodbye, I’m going to appreciate this moment the rest of my life," said Cabrera. "I want to say thank you, I’m happy."
After recording the out at first, Cabrera was lifted from the game for the send-off he deserved. The fans howled and chanted his name: MIG-GY, MIG-GY! His teammates spilled out of the dugout and ran in from the bullpen. As he hugged each one of them, Cabrera took off his sunglasses and wiped tears from his eyes. He said he "didn't want to hide my emotions. This is a special moment." Most eyes in the crowd agreed. So did a few in the press box.
"We’ll never see another Miggy ever again," said Kerry Carpenter.
Cabrera is staying with the Tigers as a special assistant, with hopes of helping their young hitters take the team back to the playoffs. Torkelson and Riley Greene were the last two players he embraced on his way out the door, the end of one era and perhaps the dawn of another. He left Torkelson with a signed glove, and Detroit with a lifetime of memories.