Even amid his decline, Miguel Cabrera is on a climb. He entered Tuesday's game against the Red Sox just three homers shy of 500 -- and 58 hits shy of 3,000 -- and then he drilled homer No. 498 over the right-field fence in the second inning.
It was a classic Miggy bomb, on a line the other way. Who knows how many more he'd have had he not spent the bulk of his career playing in one of the biggest parks in the game. But that's for another time. As long he's in front of us, Cabrera's the kind of all-time hitter who demands appreciation.
Take it from the Red Sox TV broadcast Tuesday night. Take it specifically from Hall of Fame pitcher Dennis Eckersley, who retired one year before Cabrera signed with the Florida Marlins as an amateur free agent in 1999. You could almost hear Eckersley smiling as he watched Cabrera circle the bases, one homer closer to history.
"Here he comes! Here comes Miggy!" Eckersley said on NESN. "I’ll tell you what, this guy, what a special, special player. One of the greatest hitters of all time. You see the kind of pop he’s got the other way. This is a big ballpark he’s been playing in for a long, long time, and he’s got 498 jacks."
Amen.
After Tuesday, Cabrera has two more chances to make history at home before the Tigers head out on a six-game road trip to Cleveland and Baltimore. Wherever and whenever it happens, he'll become the 28th player in MLB history to launch 500 homers. And wherever and whenever he reaches 3,000 hits, he'll become just the seventh player in history to do both.
And Cabrera could still become the first to do both in the same season. He'll be closing in on the latter mark in late September if he hits about .280 the rest of the way, and he's hitting .315 since the All-Star break. He passed Hall of Famer Frank Robinson for 36th on the all-time hits list Tuesday night, and Hall of Famer Willie Keeler is next.
"To see what Miguel is doing, night in and night out, chasing milestones and delivering special moments for not only all of our fans but also his teammates has been just incredible," Tigers owner Chris Ilitch said Tuesday. "Everybody is excited about it and I think it’s brought a level of respect for the tradition of the game and what Miguel has done to put his place in history in this sport."
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