No one could have known it, but when a 20-year-old Miguel Cabrera dug in against a 41-year-old Roger Clemens in Game 4 of the 2003 World Series, two of the greatest of all time were about to go head to head. Almost literally, as it turned out, when Cabrera ducked a first-pitch fastball that went whizzing past his face. But Cabrera kept his feet, refusing to yield an inch of the plate, and then stared at Clemens as if daring him to come inside again.
You know what happened next. The legendary at-bat that ends with Cabrera smacking an opposite-field home run -- no one could have known how many more would follow -- has been viewed nearly 1.5 million times on YouTube. It was viewed again Thursday at the Tigers spring training complex, with both combatants watching.
Clemens, now 59, was in Lakeland to visit his son Kody Clemens, the 25-year-old infield prospect who's in big league camp with the Tigers. When 'Rocket' rolled into the Tigers' team meeting Thursday as a surprise guest, A.J. Hinch rolled the video for everyone to see.
"They roasted me," Clemens said, via the Free Press.
"I had to poke fun at him," said Hinch.
Clemens actually had Cabrera in a 1-2 hole, but the greats aren't easy to bury. Cabrera laid off a vintage Clemens splitter after swinging over one moments prior -- always thinking, even then -- fouled off a couple tailing fastballs and then drilled a four-seamer over the right field fence with the same easy swing that would become famous in Detroit.
" Talk about uncomfortable at-bats," said Hinch. "He threw at his face, and then Miggy took him deep. The boys had fun with that."
Beyond razzing Clemens, Hinch said the point of showing the at-bat was to "have as many people in that room experience what only a few in that room have, which is win a World Series."
"When you see someone at the beginning of a Hall of Fame career in Miguel facing Roger towards the tail end of his career, it's just a good reminder that it can happen anytime in your career, whether you're ready for it or not," Hinch said.