Remembering the top 10 moments of Miggy's Marlins career
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Miguel Cabrera's resume is Hall of Fame worthy. He's a two-time American League Most Valuable Player, a Triple Crown winner, a 12-time All-Star, a seven-time Silver Slugger Award winner and a four-time batting champion.
Cabrera, 40, is retiring at the end of the season after a 21-year Major League career that started in South Florida. With Cabrera and the Tigers visiting loanDepot park this weekend, let's take a look back at his top 10 moments in a Marlins uniform in chronological order.
1. Walk-off homer in MLB debut
June 20, 2003
Cabrera is one of 33 players in AL/NL history to accumulate 3,000 hits, and his first made an immediate impact. A 20-year-old Cabrera was hitless in his first four at-bats before sending Al Levine's pitch to straightaway center for a two-run homer in a 3-1 walk-off victory over the Devil Rays in 11 innings at Pro Player Stadium.
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2. National League Division Series go-ahead hit
Oct. 4, 2003
The Marlins captured the NLDS over the Giants in dramatic fashion, when Iv¨¢n Rodr¨ªguez held onto left fielder Jeff Conine's throw on a home-plate collision with J.T. Snow for the final out of Game 4. The game was able to end on that play because Cabrera knocked the go-ahead two-run single with two outs against Felix Rodriguez in the eighth. After going hitless in his first nine at-bats of the NLDS, Cabrera went 4-for-5 with one run scored and three RBIs in the series clincher, a 7-6 Marlins win.
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3. First postseason homer
Oct. 7, 2003
The Cubs jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first inning of Game 1 of the NL Championship Series, but the Marlins responded with a trio of homers in the third for a 5-4 lead. Iv¨¢n Rodr¨ªguez took Carlos Zambrano deep for a three-run homer before Cabrera knocked a two-out solo shot over the left-center-field ivy. Juan Encarnacion went back to back. At the time, Cabrera was the second-youngest player since at least 1901 to homer in the postseason, behind Andruw Jones. The Marlins would go on to win, 9-8, at Wrigley Field.
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4. NLCS Game 7 homer
Oct. 15, 2003
Cabrera drove in four in Game 7, as the Marlins rattled off three straight wins to advance to the World Series against the Yankees. He belted a three-run homer in the first against Kerry Wood and produced an RBI groundout in the fifth in the 9-6 clincher at Wrigley Field. Cabrera went 10-for-30 with nine runs scored, three homers, six RBIs, two walks and one hit-by-pitch in the seven-game series.
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5. World Series homer off Roger Clemens
Oct. 22, 2003
Then-six-time AL Cy Young Award winner Clemens decided to brush back Cabrera, who was half his age, with a fastball high and inside to open their first-inning matchup in Game 4. But Cabrera would get the last laugh. He capped the seven-pitch battle by going the opposite way for a homer to give the Marlins a two-run lead over the Yankees. The club would go on to win, 4-3, in 12 innings and knot the series at 2. That was Cabrera's only dinger in that Fall Classic, which the Marlins won in six games.
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6. 100 RBIs in a season
Sept. 14, 2004
The owner of 1,862 career RBIs as of July 26, Cabrera drove in 112 during his first full season. Nos. 99-100 came on a two-run homer against Scott Downs in the Marlins' 8-6 win against the Expos at ... U.S. Cellular Field, with the game relocated to Chicago due to Hurricane Ivan. Cabrera has reached the 100-RBI mark in 12 seasons, including a stretch of 11 in a row from 2004-14.
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7. 500th career hit
May 12, 2006
In a 12-9 loss to the Pirates at PNC Park, Cabrera notched the milestone on a first-inning RBI single to left on a pitch from Victor Santos. At 23 years and 24 days old in his 438th career game, Cabrera became the 13th-youngest player in the Expansion Era (since 1961) to reach 500 career hits.
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8. Intentional walk hit
June 22, 2006
Remember the days of a pitcher purposely throwing four pitches to a standing catcher's outstretched arm? With Hanley Ramirez at second and first base open in the 10th inning, the Orioles elected to intentionally walk Cabrera. Except, Todd Williams kept lobbing pitches that enticed Cabrera to finally swing at one and single in the go-ahead run in an 8-5 win at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.
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9. 100th career homer
Aug. 23, 2006
Cabrera went deep twice in a 9-7 win over the Nationals at Dolphins Stadium, reaching the milestone in his fourth season and his 530th game. At 23 years and 127 days old, he became the sixth-youngest player to reach the century mark for homers since at least 1901. Cabrera's third-inning solo shot to left-center against Chris Schroder was No. 100. As of July 26, Cabrera had 508 career homers -- 27th all-time.
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10. Upper deck at old ballpark
April 22, 2007
Rarely did baseballs reach the upper tank at Dolphin Stadium from 1993-2011, but count Cabrera among the few players who could achieve the feat. He showed off his power with a tape-measure blast off Jerome Williams in a 12-6 victory over the Nationals. Imagine the Statcast figures on this majestic shot!
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