Miguel Cabrera at 500 HR: A Storied Career
Player Name
With Miguel Cabrera reaching the 500 career home run milestone, here is a look back on Miggy’s storied career.
By Zach Smith
Miguel Cabrera just became the 28th player in MLB history to reach 500 career home runs.
Cabrera first signed with the Florida Marlins back in 1999 as an amatuer free agent.
At just 20 years old, the Venezuelan native made his MLB debut on June 20, 2003, and he never looked back.
In just 87 games, the young slugger hit 12 home runs and drove in 62 RBIs while hitting .268.
The Marlins went on to win the World Series that year, and everyone knew Cabrera was a star in the making.
In his next four seasons with the Marlins, Miggy was a 4x All-Star.
His time with the Marlins came to an end in December of 2007. Florida traded Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis to the Detroit Tigers for six players.
Cabrera hit 37 bombs in his first season in Detroit, which was top in the American League, making him the youngest AL home run champ since Tony Glaus in 2000. He also hit a then career-high 127 RBIs.
Miggy was named AL MVP that season and led the Tigers to the AL Pennant. He went on to win AL MVP again in 2013 after he hit .348 with 44 homers.
In March 2014, the Tigers signed Cabrera to a eight-year/$248 million extension which was the biggest contract in the MLB at the time. Miggy continued to shine and won his fourth AL batting title in 2015.
Cabrera won the Triple Crown in 2012, the first since Carl Yastrzemski in 1967. He finished with a .330 batting average to go along with 44 home runs and 139 RBIs.
Cabrera has cooled down in recent years as he has aged. He has played mostly DH since 2018 due to injuries, but he’ll still go down as one of the best hitters all-time when it's all said and done.
He’s a 2x AL MVP, 11x All-Star, 2x POY, a Triple Crown winner, a World Series Champion, and he’s won four AL batting titles. He now has 500 career home runs. Let's appreciate greatness while we can.