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Miguel Cabrera swung his way into MLB history Sunday afternoon.
Cabrera kick-started Detroit’s scoring in the team’s 5-3 victory over the Blue Jays with a solo home run in the top of the sixth inning. The home run was the 500th of Cabrera’s career, he became the 28th player in MLB history to reach that milestone.
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Cabrera is one of two active players in the 500-home-run club. The other, Albert Pujols, was quick to congratulate Cabrera in a video message relayed by the Tigers.
“Miggy, my brother, welcome to the 500 Club,” Pujols said. “I’m so proud of everything that you have accomplished in this game, many more to come. Good luck, God bless you.”
Cabrera also received messages from Alex Rodriguez, Jim Thome and David Ortiz. Before Cabrera’s home run Sunday, Ortiz had been the most recent player to reach 500 when he homered twice at Tropicana Field for the Red Sox on Sept. 12, 2015.
“You are a role model. You are an unbelievable example for all those young fellas out there growing up, especially coming from other countries,” Ortiz said. “Congratulations, 500. Wow, that milestone is amazing.”
The Tigers also made sure that Cabrera’s former teammates were given a chance to congratulate him. They released another video that featured the likes of Torii Hunter, Nick Castellanos and Justin Verlander speaking about Cabrera’s feat.
Verlander, in particular, was complimentary of Cabrera and called him “the best hitter I’ve ever played with.”
“I know that you’re not the type of person to have everybody tell you how great you are,” Verlander said. “But I’ll tell you, man. You’re incredible, you’re the best player — you’re the best hitter I’ve ever played with. And I hope that you’re able to take a minute and sit back and appreciate this milestone.”
Plenty of other notable players and organizations congratulated Cabrera for his blast. From MLB to the Detroit sports teams, a look at the love Cabrera received:
500-HR CLUB, AVG AS HIGH AS MIGGY
Ted Williams .344
Babe Ruth .342
Jimmie Foxx .325
Manny Ramirez .312
Miguel Cabrera .311— Jayson Stark (@jaysonst) August 22, 2021