Detroit Tigers: Top 10 moments of Miguel Cabrera's career

Miguel Cabrera's career is coming to an end. This weekend marks the final three games of a legendary career. Comerica Park is sure to be packed, especially since the Lions played on the road Thursday.

With his career wrapping up, it's time to wrap up Miggy Month as well. We've had a great time looking back on his career, and hope you have as well.

It's hard to believe that Miguel Cabrera will not be in a Tigers uniform following the season finale on Sunday. The ovation and fesitivies he'll receive are sure to bring tears to the eyes of Tigers and baseball fans everywhere.

To wrap up Miggy Month, and Miggy's career, we're going to do one final look back at his career. We're going to go over what we consider the top 10 moments of Miguel Cabrera's amazing career.

This is going to be over his entire career, even dating back to his time with the Marlins. Miguel has had so many cool and legendary moments throughout his career. It's only fair we go back to where it all started.

Here are the top 10 moments of Miguel Cabrera's career

10. Getting a hit while being intentionally walked — June 22, 2006

If you want to get an idea of just how smart of a player Miggy is — and how crazy his bat-to-ball skills are — look no further than when he hit a go-ahead RBI single off a pitch way off the plate when the Orioles were trying to put him on first base.

Orioles pitcher Todd Williams was trying to intentially walk Cabrera, but he left one too close to the plate. This allowed Miggy to just stick his bat out and flick it into center field for the go-ahead score.

This is just a crazy thing to see. You didn't see a whole lot of players do this back when pitchers actually had to throw four pitches off the plate for the intentional walk. Most players just took their free base, but not Miggy. Even at 23 years old, he wasn't here to mess around.

Williams just lobs this pitch over, and it moves kind of like a knuckleball. To have the patience and the wherewithal to just stay back and take a rip at it was something only Miggy could do.

8. First career home run is a walkoff — June 20, 2003

Not too bad for a major league debut, eh? Making his debut as a 20-year-old in left field, Cabrera had gone 0-for-4 at the plate until he came up in the 11th inning against Devil Rays pitcher Al Levine.

Miggy got a pitch that ran in on him, but had the strength to muscle it out to the deepest part of Dolphins Stadium, which was not an easy thing to do.

It really felt like as soon as Cabrera was called up, that Marlins team's season started to shift. They started playing much better baseball, and would go on to win the 2003 World Series.

This was just a taste of what was to come for Miguel Cabrera's career. Little did people know that there would be 20 more years of greatness.

7. Home run off Roger Clemens in 2003 World Series — Oct. 22, 2003

Speaking of the 2003 World Series, Miggy found a way to make that special as well. In game four, he stepped up to the plate in the first inning and took a couple pitches up and in, staring Clemens down after the second one.

He would go on to work a seven-pitch at-bat before sending a high fastball the opposite way, into the right field seats.

Clemens was 41 years old at the time, more than double the age of Cabrera. He didn't back down and take him lightly, not that anyone would have expected him to. But in the end, he still got burned by a young Miggy.

This showed that even at the tender age of 20, the bright lights of the World Series was not too big of a stage for Cabrera. Sadly, this would be the only World Series he would ever win. It's a shame he couldn't get a ring in Detroit.

6. Three-homer game in Texas — May 19, 2013

In the middle of May in 2013, on Sunday Night Baseball in front of a national audience, Miggy put on a show.

He went deep three times, all to center field. The first one was an absolute moonshot to right-center. The next two just got over the wall in straight away center. The first two homers were off Derek Holland, who would go on to pitch for the Tigers in 2021. The other was off Tanner Scheppers.

This was right smack in the middle of Miggy's prime. Guys just coudn't get him out. He was hitting .387 with an OPS over 1.100 after this game in 2013. He went 4-for-4 with three homers and five RBIs in this one.

After course, the Tigers lost this game, 11-8, so there's a little Tungsten Arm O'Doyle to this one. And this wasn't the only game where Miggy hit three home runs in a Tigers loss. The other on came on May 28, 2010 against the A's in a 5-4 loss.

5. Walkoff home run off Chris Perez — Aug. 5, 2012

This is a home run that often goes overlooked in Miggy's career, but we didn't forget about it. Right in the middle of his Triple Crown season, Miggy came up and delivered in extra innings.

Facing one of the better closers in the game at the time in Chris Perez, he came up and hit one out to left center to give the Tigers a huge win over Cleveland.

This is a home run that we named one of the top 5 home runs of Cabrera's career, and rightfully so. This dinger set the tone for the secod half of the Tigers' 2012 season in which they reached the World Series.

This is a pretty good moment to kick off the top five. What's next?

4. Ovation after clinching Triple Crown — Oct. 3, 2012

We recently looked back at his historic Triple Crown season, so we won't spend too much time on this. The ovation he received after clinching the Triple Crown was a very cool moment, especially since it was on the road. It was a very nice gesture by the fans in Kansas City. It almost made it feel like it was at home.

The fans recognized the history that was being made, and the greatness that was on display. Again, great stuff from the fans at Kauffman Stadium that night.

3. 500th home run — Aug. 22, 2021

We've all seen the 500th home run. We've also covered it at length already this month, so we won't spend too much time on this one. But you may be wondering how it only ends up at No. 3 on this list.

For starters, it happened on the road. If it had happened at Comerica Park, it would have so much harder. The roar of the crowd would have been unlike anything we've ever heard.

It also just feels like the other two moments we put ahead of it just feel like they had more impact. The next one, while also taking place on the road, is such memorable moment and showcased so much greatness that we had to put it ahead of No. 500.

Hitting 500 home runs in a career is a heck of an accoplishment, but we still feel like there are two moments that are better.

2. Home run off Mariano Rivera — Aug. 9, 2013

There's just something so incredible about this home run. Maybe it's the fact that two of the greatest to ever do it were battling out on a big stage. Maybe it's the fact that Cabrera had hurt himself earlier in the at-bat by fouling a ball off his knee. But this was just an amazing moment.

We already discussed this at length as well, naming it our best home run of Miguel Cabrera's career. We'd still say it's worthy of that title.

The look on Mariano Rivera's face says it all. He couldn't believe he got beat. He had Cabrera on the ropes in an 0-2 count, but couldn't put him away. Thus, he paid the price.

Everyone still talks about this moment to this day. When people think of Miggy's greatness, they often point to this home run. It may have just been a regular season game, but it was still a huge moment.

This is a great moment, but there's one that was better. What's No. 1?

1. 3,000th hit — April 23, 2022

We had to have one of the major milestones at No. 1 on this list, so why not the one that cemented his place in Cooperstown?

On a sunny day in late April, Comerica Park was packed. Everyone there knew Miggy was at 2,999 career hits. Fans showed up in droves in hopes that they would witness history, and they were not disappointed.

Miggy came up in the first inning with a runner on first and one out. He got into a 1-1 count, and with a classic Miggy swing, sent a grounder through the right side for hit No. 3,000.

Teammates, former teammates, and friends and family decsended on to the field to congratulate him on such a tremendous accomplishment. He became just the seventh player in MLB history with 500 home runs and 3,000 hits.

What many Tigers fans thought was cool was the first person to greet him: Jose Iglesias, then with the Rockies, who played for the Tigers from 2013-18. They always had a close relationship, so that was really neat to see.

This moment was something that fans will never forget. It's not often you get to see a player record their 3,000th hit. It takes its rightful place as the best moment of Miguel Cabrera's storied career.