On June 20, 2003, a 20-year-old Miguel Cabrera stepped to the plate against in the 11th inning against Tampa Bay Devil Rays reliever Al Levine. At that point, Cabrera looked like a player who had all of 303 plate appearances at the Double-A level. Levine would leave a fastball over the heart of the plate, and a legend would begin his journey:
Cabrera’s first career hit was a walk-off home run. It was the first of what was 502 career home runs and counting. It was also the first of what is now 3,000 career hits.
Fittingly, Cabrera would further cement his place in baseball history against the Colorado Rockies. He singled in his first at-bat of Saturday’s game against Antonio Senzatela for the 3,000th hit of his career. He is the 33rd player in major league history to accomplish the feat.
There was a time where either 500 home runs or 3,000 hits made you an automatic Hall of Famer. Of course, that was a time before the PED era. Still, getting to either feat is a noteworthy accomplishment and being a player who did both puts you in another stratosphere.
Fittingly, it was a feat first accomplished by Hank Aaron with Willie Mays soon to follow. When Eddie Murray accomplished the feat, he was the first switch hitter and first baseman.
After Murray, the accomplishment lost some of its luster with Rafael Palmeiro, Barry Bonds, and Alex Rodriguez rising to the ranks. However, we may have seen the tide stemmed with Albert Pujols joining the club in 2021 and with Cabrera joining the club.
In some way, Cabrera stands above them all. He has become the first Triple Crown winner to have 3,000 hits and 500 homers. He is the only player to accomplish that feat while being an All-Star as a left fielder, third baseman, and first baseman. This is just part of the story of a player who is among the elite of the elite all-time and will become a Hall of Famer five years after his career ends.
