He could have worn the golden sombrero. He could have pounded each pitch into the dirt. He could have been intentionally walked by Aaron Boone and the Yankees once, twice, three times, four times. He could have been plunked on the knee, on the arm, on the hip, on the foot. He could have left Comerica Park battered and bruised Thursday afternoon, without a hit to his name, stuck on 2,999, and Miguel Cabrera would have been smiling so long as the Tigers had won.
So when Miggy was in the tunnel outside Detroit's clubhouse to greet friends and family, still in uniform after his team snapped a three-game skid with a 3-0 win over the Yankees, and a reporter asked him, "Intentional walk??," Cabrera glanced back and grinned, "That's the game, the beautiful game of baseball."
When the day began, Cabrera was trying not to cry. He got choked up while talking before the game about the late Al Kaline, Mr. Tiger, the last player to collect his 3,000th hit wearing the Old English D. And when he came to the plate in the first inning with clouds in the sky over Detroit and the fans at Comerica rising as one, Cabrera was wearing shades. The Big Man, Mr. Indestructible, had been broken by his emotions.
"It’s why I hit with sunglasses on today," he said. "My eyes were (tearing). It was very emotional for me. Hopefully tomorrow I have better at-bats, get a hit and we win the game."
His at-bats on Thursday were anxious. Cabrera, who admitted to similar nerves while chasing 500 homers here last season, was jittery. It's a reminder of the milestone he's chasing, so near but so far, that a man who's played in 11 All-Star Games, won two MVP's and owns the only Triple Crown in the last 45 years can feel his heart pounding when he steps to the plate, that a hitter who's been nothing but composed over 20 years in the big leagues admitted he "wanted to swing at every pitch they threw me because I want to get out of the way of 3,000."
"It was not a good approach," Cabrera said with a laugh.
The tension in the crowd didn't help. The fans would stand and cheer when Cabrera walked to the plate, then fall deathly silent before each pitch. They would hold up their phones and hit record, then hold their breath and hope this was it. They would exhale, with groans, when it wasn't. And who could blame them? We all want to be present for history.
"We almost need to play the scoreboard noise and get everybody up and going during Miggy's at-bats, but everybody's too busy holding their iPhones and getting their pictures," said A.J. Hinch. "So it is uncomfortably quiet, but I guess everybody's a little hush when it comes to watching history."
There were no groans in the bottom of the eighth, the Tigers up 1-0. There were cheers when they crowded the bases and bought Cabrera another at-bat. And there were jeers when Yankees manager Aaron Boone took it away. There were boos, louder than we've heard in a long time at Comerica Park, when Boone opted for strategy over sentiment and put Cabrera on for free, his first intentional walk in nearly two years after once drawing 32 in a single season, with runners on second and third and first base open, a lefty on the mound and a lefty on deck.
"YANKEES SUCK!!! YANKEES SUCK!!!"
The chants relented for a moment when the next hitter, Austin Meadows, dunked a double into center to extend the Tigers' lead and the crowd reveled in the karma. They resumed as quickly as the second runner crossed the plate. The fans had been robbed of their moment. They had been wronged by the Yankees, and the Yankees Suck. The chants continued, louder and louder through the rest of the inning, until the big screen showed a Big Man holding three fingers in the air and pumping his fist.
"We’re winning 3-0, so it’s OK," Cabrera said. "We’re winning 3-0 and we got a big chance to win."
They finished the job the next inning, and Cabrera bounced up the dugout steps, a smile across his face, and pounded fists with his teammates for the first time in nearly a week. 3,000 would have felt good. For Cabrera, this felt better. His shades had come off, and his eyes were glowing in his postgame interview. He said the weight of the day was real. He said it was almost too much to bear. History was calling his name and the crowd was chanting it: "Miggy!! Miggy!!"
"I always dreamed about this moment," he said. "When I was in the dugout ready to go up for my at-bat, I was thinking about that like, wow, phew. It got me really in my heart."
Cabrera will answer the call soon. If not tomorrow, the next day. He will get another hit and the fans will roar and the tears might stream down his face. And then Miggy will smile depending on the score, like he was smiling on Thursday after an 0-3 game ended 3-0 Tigers.
So he didn't mind the intentional walk?"
"No, my on base percentage is going up!" he cracked. "And we scored two runs. That’s the beauty of baseball, man."