Young Yankees ecstatic to honor their hero, Miggy

This story was excerpted from Bryan Hoch’s Yankees Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

Dawn Klemish, a reporter-producer for MLB.com, contributed this issue’s lead item from Detroit.

Think fans are the only ones who get star-struck when they meet someone famous? Think again.

Oswaldo Cabrera had just turned 4 years old when Miguel Cabrera made his Major League debut for the Marlins in June 2003, so when the 25-year-old said he'd been following the baseball legend his whole life, he meant it literally.

Still, with just a smattering of big league games under his belt compared to the elder Cabrera’s 2,777 spread across 21 MLB seasons, the Yankees infielder/outfielder had never had an opportunity to meet his idol, let alone take the same field as him.

Until this week, when the Yankees and Tigers faced off at Comerica Park.

“He’s one of my heroes, and being in the game against Miguel Cabrera means so much for me. The first time I saw him play was like, such an awesome moment, I was almost crying,” said Oswaldo Cabrera, who went 2-for-3 with an RBI, a walk and an improbable leaping catch at third during the series-opening win. “But at the same time was like, ‘OK, we have to do this.’ My mind was like, ‘I'm playing against this guy, this hero.’”

Oswaldo Cabrera grew up in Guarenas, Venezuela, a town about 2 hours northeast of Miggy’s hometown of Maracay.

“In Venezuela, everybody talks about him,” said Oswaldo, who pointed to the 2012 Triple Crown season as one of his favorite Miggy memories. “I have to [meet him].”

On Tuesday during batting practice, Oswaldo got his wish alongside rookie teammates and fellow Venezuelans Oswald Peraza and Everson Pereira.

The group converged behind home plate for photos, autographs, advice from a future Hall of Famer … and the opportunity to tell the veteran slugger how much he meant to them and their home country.

The young trio will no doubt also be eager to host Cabrera and the Tigers in their home park from Sept. 5-7, as the Bronx is one of the final stops on Miggy’s retirement tour.