As Miguel Cabrera chases down 3,000 hits, he's passing a lot of big names. Like Babe Ruth last week and Mel Ott this week. And like Omar Vizquel on Wednesday, but this was about more than a name. This was about the people of a country.
With a pair of RBI singles in the Tigers' win over the Royals, Cabrera became MLB's all-time hits leader from Venezuela.
"So many Venezuelans have played the game and had success," said A.J. Hinch. "The pride they play with, the energy and the spirt, and Miggy is at the top for most hits. That's a really big deal, especially in a sport that's so engaged across different cultures. Miggy needs to really enjoy this one."
Aside from the milestones, Miggy hasn't had much to enjoy this season. He homered in the first game of the year, then suffered a biceps injury and slumped like never before. At one point he collected three hits in 40 trips to the plate. It was depressing, and the team around him wasn't exactly lifting the mood.
So Cabrera wasn't his usual playful self when he met with the media Wednesday night. He didn't smile all that much. He admitted this year has been a struggle, and that the pressure of passing Vizquel was beginning to weigh on him. He couldn't get away from it.
"So many people have been asking me all season and the past year and today, ‘Are you going to break this record?’ That kept me in my head, so right now I’m a little relieved," Cabrera said. "I don’t have to worry about that. Hopefully I can keep getting hits and start getting hot because it’s been a lot of frustration this season, and hopefully we can start winning games."
Don't look now, but the Tigers have won three in a row. And Cabrera has two hits in three of his last four games. On Wednesday he lined a single to left to tie the game at two in the third, then poked a single to right to extend the Tigers' lead in the fifth. He glanced back at a jubilant dugout both times he reached first. There was the smile. On this night, the RBI's meant more than the record.
"It’s really, really special because I’ve been really struggling this season, with men on scoring position, not getting on base too much," Cabrera said. "I’m working on that, trying to get on base, trying to make contact and make something happen to help the team score more runs and win more games."
Lately, Cabrera said he feels more confident at the plate. He's not chasing as many pitches and he's getting deeper into counts. Playing more at first base seems to have helped. DH-ing might preserve Cabrera's knees, but it dulls his spirit. And perhaps it makes him jumpy at the dish, desperate to do something, anything, to help the team win. He'll have a bust because of his bat, but Miggy's not Miggy without a mitt.
"I love being in the field, I love playing defense," he said. "I know a lot of people don’t give me credit for my defense, but I don’t really care about that. I feel my teammates getting confident when I play over there. They like when I talk because we’re more in the game."
Not that anyone's feeling sorry for Cabrera, the Hall of Famer making $30 million a year, but he admitted the game isn't much fun "when you sit in the dugout and watch."
"The game is slow in the dugout," he said. "When you’re in the field the game is coming fast and you’re more into it. I think you prepare yourself more because when you don’t hit, you can play defense and win games other ways."
And that's really what it comes down to for Cabrera: winning games. Beating teams like the Tigers used to. It's where every thought left him on a night he became his country's hit king. Maybe, in a different year, under different circumstances, he'd be happier to celebrate the achievement. But on this night, Cabrera was just happy to help the Tigers win.
And finally, the Tigers are lifting the mood.
"What an honor it is to be able to share the field with the greatness that is Miguel Cabrera," said Casey Mize, who picked up the win on Wednesday. "Just a remarkable feat what he was able to do tonight. It’s something I’ll be able to look back on and just be amazed by, that I was here for this game and started and got to share the field with him.
"What a pleasure it was tonight to be able to see that."