Top 5 home runs of Miguel Cabrera's career with the Detroit Tigers

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As Miggy Month enters its second half, we're going to start getting into the nitty-gritty. With Miguel Cabrera's career coming to an end in about two weeks, it's time start the countdown...or in our case, countdowns.

Cabrera's Tigers career has lasted 16 seasons, with 372 of his 510 homers coming in a Detroit Tigers uniform. Our mission today will be to find the five most memorable ones.

Now, there will most likely be some overlap between this list, and future lists the rest of the month. It's inevitable with how many home runs Miggy has hit, and how long he's played. Our apologies in advance.

With that out of the way, let us begin.

Here are the top 5 home runs of Miguel Cabrera's Tigers career

5. April 1, 2021 — Home run in the snow on Opening Day

The first of two later-career Miggy homers to appear on this list, this home run was mesmerizing simply because of the conditions. It's basically a blizzard at Comerica Park back on Opening Day of the 2021 season.

Nobody can see a thing. I'm shocked Miggy could even see the ball as it was pitched by Cleveland starter Shane Bieber. But clearly he saw it well enough to drive it just over the wall in right field.

Not only was this is the first home run of the 2021 season for any team, it was his 350th as a Tiger. You could see the snow and wind pick up as the at-bat went on.

The fact that Miggy wasn't sure if it was a homer or not speaks to how low the visibility was. Again, how could he have possibly seen the ball come out of the pitcher's hands in these conditions?

This is easily the most memorable home run of the past few years for Miggy, outside of one more you'll be able to relive later on.

4. Aug. 17, 2013 — Walkoff home run vs. Royals

There are a number of walkoff homers we could have chose, but the next two (spoiler alert!) are the clear best. This one in 2013 against Kansas City just felt like it was going to happen the minute we walked up to the plate.

Then, Miggy worked himself a 3-1 count and got a fastball. I mean, what else did Royals' pitcher Aaron Crow expect to happen?

Yeah, two-handing one out to right field sounds about right. I'm surprised they didn't just put him on first base. Miggy was so dominant at this stage of his career. It would have been a smart move.

Mario Impemba's call of "we are not worthy!" was incredibly fitting. We were seeing something that we hadn't seen in years. Nobody was as good as Miggy was back in 2013.

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

Here's one that I feel like gets forgotten about sometimes. In the midst of a huge divisional series with Cleveland, the Tigers went to extra innings in the final game of the series. The Tigers were down 8-5 in the 10th inning before scoring three runs to tie it.

That brought Miggy to the plate. And wouldn't you know it, he got into a 3-1 count. The next pitch was a fastball, and the rest was history.

This ended up being a huge win for the Tigers. It seemed to propel them in the second half of the season. They would go on the win the AL Central and fall in the World Series to the Giants.

As for Perez, he was a pretty good closer at the time. But he was never the same after this walk-off blast. Miggy actually broke him.

2. Aug. 22, 2021 — No. 500

How could we not put this one here? Such a monumental achievement deserves another look back.

It felt like Miggy was stuck on No. 499 forever. Pitchers kept pitching around him because they didn't want to be the one to give up No. 500. But Blue Jays' pitcher Steven Matz ended up being the lucky guy.

He had finally done it. He likely would still be a future first-ballot hall-of-famer even if he didn't quite reach 500, but this pretty much sealed it.

If he had been able to hit this home run at home, it would have made it even more special. The crowd's reaction at Comerica Park would have been nuts. Heck, it already was, even when it an infield fly to second base when he was on 499.

This was obviously a special home run, but it's not No. 1. No, that one goes to a bomb that is still talked about to this day.

1. Aug. 9, 2013 — Home run off Mariano Rivera on one leg

It wasn't a milestone. It wasn't a playoff game. It wasn't even a walk-off. Heck, it wasn't even a game the Tigers won. But dang, if this homer wasn't memorable.

Let's set the scene for those who either aren't familiar with this one, or don't remember it. The Tigers are down 3-1 in the ninth inning against the Yankees in New York. There are two outs, and Miggy is coming up to the dish to face the best closer ever in Mariano Rivera.

There's a runner on second, so Miggy represents the tying run. He pops the first pitch up, but it goes foul and out of play, just out of the reach of Yankees' 1B Lyle Overbay, who almost tracked the ball down. If he makes that play, this home run never happens.

Fast forward a few pitches and it's a 1-2 count. Miggy swings and fouls a pitch off his knee. Jim Leyland and trainer Kevin Rand came out to check on him. He was clearly in pain. But he stayed in the game.

Three pitches later, in a 2-2 count, he did the unthinkable.

Rivera just floated that trademark cutter of his over the middle, and Miggy made him pay for it, even on one leg. Just an amazing end to an outstanding matchup.

The Yanks would get the last laugh, winning 4-3 in 10 innings, but this home run still stands as Miggy's most memorable homer. Fans, both Tigers fans and baseball fans in general, still talk about this bomb.

Some people may disagree with this being No. 1 over the 500th, but for our money, this is Miguel Cabrera's most memorable home run.

Next. Looking back at Miguel Cabrera's 2010 season: Should he have won AL MVP?. Looking back at Miguel Cabrera's 2010 season: Should he have won AL MVP?. dark

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