With Detroit Tigers‘ future Hall of Famer Miguel Cabrera closing in on 3,000 career hits, we thought it would be fun to look back at some of his milestone hits.
Let’s flashback to June 20, 2003. A much younger, and leaner, 20-year-old Cabrera makes his major league debut for the then Florida Marlins and picks up his first career hit in dramatic fashion.
Cabrera breaks a 1-1 tie in the bottom of the 11th inning with a two-run homer to dead center for his first career big fly, propelling the Marlins to a 3-1 win over the then Tampa Bay Devil Rays.
Miggy played a large portion of that season in left field and gradually transitioned to third base as his career began to blossom. He spent five seasons with the Fish before the blockbuster deal in the off-season prior to the 2008 MLB season, that shipped him to Detroit, along with lefty Dontrelle Willis, in exchange for five Tigers’ prospects at the time, headlined by Andrew Miller and Cameron Maybin.
Cabrera finished 5th in the National League Rookie of the Year voting in 2003, which was ultimately won by his teammate, the aforementioned Dontrelle Willis. The Marlins went on to win their second World Series in a seven-year span, and just their 11th year of existence at the time.
