All-Time Great Miguel Cabrera Retires After 21 Seasons

The baseball world saw one of its all-time greats retire this past week.

Miguel Cabrera says goodbye to the game of baseball after an illustrious 21-year career.

Cabrera, born in Venezuela made it to the MLB at the age of 20 back in 2003. He broke into the majors with the Florida Marlins.

He signed his first contract with Florida back in 1999 at the age of 16. It would take Cabrera three seasons in the minor league system before being called up.

It did not take baseball viewers long to realize how special Cabrera would be. In his first major league game against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, the then-rookie Cabrera would hit a walk-off home run to dead center, giving Florida the victory 3-1. The season was not only special for Cabrera as the Marlins won 91 games and advanced to the World Series against the New York Yankees. It took Florida six games to knock out New York, giving the team its second World Series title in team history.

Cabrera would end his rookie season with a .268 batting average with 12 home runs and 62 RBIs.

Coming off a successful rookie season, “Miggy” would only improve. He would capture his first All-Star selection and bat .294 with 33 home runs hit and 112 RBIs batted in.

The All-Star selection was the first of 12 in his career. The accolades over his 21-year career wouldn’t just stop there. He was a seven-time Silver Slugger winner, which is given to the best offensive player at each position. He was a two-time MVP, an award given to the Most Valuable Player of the entire league for the whole season. The MVP seasons came in 2012 and 2014 while he was playing for the Detroit Tigers.

2012 was Cabrera’s best season as MVP was not the only thing he achieved. The Venezuelan was an All-Star, A.L Hank Aaron recipient, A.L batting average leader, and won the triple crown. The triple crown is when a hitter leads the league in batting average, home runs, and RBIs. A rare occurrence in the MLB. Cabrera was the first player to accomplish this feat since Carl Yastrzemski did it in 1967 for the Boston Red Sox and since Cabrera, no other player has been to achieve it.

In his final game the Tigers would defeat the Cleveland Guardians 5-2 at Comerica Park in Detroit.

In 21 seasons Cabrera’s career statistics were: batting average of .306, 3,174 hits, 511 home runs, 1881 RBIs and he played in 2,797 games. Cabrera retired as a Detroit Tiger where he played 15 seasons the other five being with the Florida Marlins.

The next stop for Cabrera will be in the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY.