For the first time in his life, Jhoulys Chacín was watching Miguel Cabrera on TV and rooting against him. He couldn't help it. The 34-year-old reliever for the Rockies was one day away from getting the chance to see his friend and countryman become the first Venezuelan player in MLB history to reach 3,000 hits. So each time Cabrera came to the plate Thursday against the Yankees, Chacín, watching the game in Denver on his team's off-day, was crossing his fingers for an out.
"I was hoping he doesn't get it," Chacín said with a laugh in the visitors clubhouse at Comerica Park on Friday. "Not in a bad way, but hopefully he doesn't get it so we can see it in person. It would be an honor for me to watch."
It's hard to put into words what Cabrera means to his country. Even his countrymen struggle. There are five of them on the Rockies' active roster, the most of any team in the majors. Maybe it's best put like this: "I don't know him personally," said 27-year-old pitcher German Marquez, "but everybody knows Miggy." He's Venezuela's Big Friendly Giant of baseball.
It would be a stretch to say Cabrera is the reason kids play back home. In Venezuela, baseball is a part of life. But the future Hall of Famer is the reason they want to be great. Rockies center fielder Yonathan Daza, 28, is from the same town as Cabrera, Maracay, and grew up watching him play on TV, in the ballpark where he arrived on Friday. A long time ago, Cabrera signed a picture for Daza of the youngster in his Little League uniform. Daza still has it.
"He's a hero," said Daza. "Since I've been playing baseball, I wish I can be like Miggy. To be here on the same field with him, I have no words to say what I feel right now."
Before the Rockies came to town, the Yankees were here. 33-year-old utility-man Marwin Gonzalez has been in the big leagues since 2012, a competitor to his core. Cabrera turns him into a fan. "A huge fan," he said. "Like everybody from Venezuela."
"He's like our God," Gonzalez said. "Our king. The way that he does it and the way that he's been doing it for so many years is unbelievable. For us growing up, and for the guys still in the minors right now, he's the Venezuelan God."
Yankees infielder Gleyber Torres, 25, marvels at Miggy. He is an artist at the plate, each swing another graceful stroke of the brush. At 39, he's putting the finishing touches on a 20-year masterpiece. When he watches Cabrera hit, and he's been watching him for as long as he can remember, Torres said he is most impressed by, "I mean, everything."
"He's the best hitter in the world," Torres said. "It's too many words to say. I'm just glad to play in the big leagues at the same time he's played."
So is 31-year-old Rockies catcher Elias Diaz. On Friday, he and fellow Venezuelan Antonio Senzatela, the scheduled starter for the first game of the series, were working on a plan to get Miggy out. At the same time, Diaz knew what they were facing: "It's going to be history," he said. "It's going to be amazing for every player from Venezula. I don't know how to explain the emotions when it happens."
Before Friday's game, which was eventually rained out, Rockies manager Bud Black found Senzatela to let him know that if Cabrera were to get a hit, there would be a celebration on the field. Senzatela looked back at his manager and shook his head.
"In his mind," said Black, "not coming off of me."
Not in Miggy's mind. In Miggy's mind, one of the sharpest that baseball has ever seen, it was time. The skies had cleared overnight. The fans had flocked to the stadium. It was 70 degrees and sunny in Detroit, a perfect day for baseball. The first pitch from Senzatela was a 94-mph fastball. Cabrera hit it foul, and the crowd's heart skipped a beat. The second was a 95-mph fastball out of the zone. "Mi-ggy! Mi-ggy!!" they chanted. The third was a 94-mph fastball on the inside corner that Cabrera smacked into right field, the stroke that defines his career.
The crowd exploded. So did fireworks in center field. It likely didn't compare to the eruption in Venezuela, where "the whole country is watching," said Gonzalez. And you couldn't script it any better than this, said Marquez, with "Senza pitching, Miggy hitting and Diaz behind home plate." After Cabrera was embraced by his teammates, all of whom poured onto the field, Diaz gave him a hug. The rest of the Rockies stood and applauded.
"It's history for our country," said Daza. "That's bigger than baseball."
