Miggy earns historic 2,000th Tigers hit

DETROIT -- The milestones keep piling up for Miguel Cabrera, even if fans aren’t at Comerica Park to see it. But the Tigers’ slugger is still having fun with it.

As the scoreboard at Comerica Park showed a video between innings celebrating Cabrera’s 2,000th hit as a Tiger, teammates and coaches congratulated him. Then Cabrera walked up the dugout steps, turned to the empty seats and took a curtain call.

“You know what, only Miggy would think about something like that, which I thought was really entertaining,” manager Ron Gardenhire said after the Tigers’ 3-2 win over the Twins.

Cabrera became the eighth player in Tigers history to record 2,000 hits with the club with an RBI single in the first inning.

“I am happy for reaching 2,000 hits with the Tigers, and most important, that we are winning games,” Cabrera said in a statement released by the team. “We are growing up as a team and that can be seen on the field.”

Cabrera, who is on a path toward his 3,000th Major League hit potentially next year, has been on a milestone tear lately. On Saturday, he surpassed Tigers Hall of Famer Charlie Gehringer for 50th on the all-time hit list with his 2,841st hit, a go-ahead two-run homer in a 4-2 win over the Twins to complete a doubleheader sweep.

In the process, Cabrera became one of just 16 players ranked among the top 50 all time in hits, home runs and RBIs, joining Hank Aaron, Adrián Beltré, Barry Bonds, Willie Mays, Eddie Murray, Stan Musial, Mel Ott, Rafael Palmeiro, Albert Pujols, Cal Ripken Jr., Frank Robinson, Alex Rodriguez, Babe Ruth, Dave Winfield and Carl Yastrzemski.

“Like I say all the time, it’s an honor to play with him,” teammate Jonathan Schoop said. “Miguel’s the best player that I’ve played with. It’s an honor for me to just be here and see all the records he can break and try to win with him.”

Cabrera stepped to the plate for his first at-bat Sunday and worked a 2-0 count against Kenta Maeda before sending a ground ball through the left side, scoring Victor Reyes, who hit a leadoff triple.

“Honestly, it's like every time he gets a hit, we get the ball,” Gardenhire said. “We have to get the ball because he did something else special. Today it was 2,000 hits with the Tigers and I started looking around thinking, 'The rest of the team doesn't have 2,000 hits.' This guy's been playing a long time. You have to do that to have all those hits. But on one team, 2,000 hits, that's amazing.”

Cabrera, who recorded his first 842 hits with the Marlins, joins an illustrious list of Tigers with 2,000 hits for the club: Ty Cobb (3,900), Al Kaline (3,007), Gehringer (2,839), Harry Heilmann (2,499), Sam Crawford (2,466), Lou Whitaker (2,369) and Alan Trammell (2,365).

Only one other active Major League player has 2,000 hits with one club: Pujols recorded 2,073 hits with the Cardinals before joining the Angels.

“He's passing some names that are in the history books in baseball's lore. That's just incredible for a manager,” Gardenhire said. “You get a chance to manage a guy like this, but you get a chance to watch him, which is even more fun. He has a fun time at the ballpark. I hope he stays having fun and I hope he keeps hitting, because he really helps us.”