Miguel Cabrera

José Miguel Cabrera Torres, known universally as Miggy, was a Venezuelan professional baseball player who spent 21 MLB seasons with the Florida Marlins and Detroit Tigers. Primarily a first baseman, third baseman, and designated hitter, he debuted in 2003 at age 20. Over his career, Cabrera won two American League MVP awards, four AL batting titles, and was selected to 12 All-Star Games. Before 2006, he mostly played the outfield, but later settled at the corner infield spots.

In 2012, he captured the 17th Triple Crown in MLB history—the first in 45 years—and remains the only player to achieve that feat since 1968. He is one of just three players ever (alongside Hank Aaron and Willie Mays) to finish with a career batting average above .300, at least 500 home runs, and 3,000 hits. Widely considered one of the game's greatest hitters, Cabrera retired after the 2023 season and now works for the Tigers as a special assistant to the president of baseball operations.

At the 2026 World Baseball Classic, he served as Venezuela’s hitting coach, helping the team win its first WBC championship.

Born in Maracay, Aragua State, Venezuela, to Miguel Cabrera and Gregoria Torres de Cabrera, he showed early interest in both volleyball and baseball. His maternal uncle, David Torres, guided him from a young age. At 14, Cabrera enrolled in a baseball school in Cagua to continue his studies while playing.

Signed by the Marlins as an amateur free agent in 1999, Cabrera came up through their minor league system alongside future big leaguers Adrián González and Dontrelle Willis. He began his pro career in 2000 as a shortstop in the Gulf Coast League, batting .260 with 10 doubles, two triples, and two homers in 57 games. After a brief stint with the NYPL Blue Sox, he played winter ball for Tigres de Aragua, where manager Bill Plummer moved him to third base. In 2001, with Low-A Kane County, he hit .268 with 30 extra-base hits and 66 RBIs, earning a spot in the Futures Game. Promoted to High-A Jupiter in 2002, he switched to third base at the request of Marlins coach Ozzie Guillén, batted .278 with 43 doubles and 75 RBIs, and made a second Futures Game appearance. He hit just nine homers in 489 at-bats during that span.

Starting 2003 with Double-A Carolina, Cabrera hit .402 in April and was batting .365 with 10 homers and 59 RBIs by June when he was called up. He made his MLB debut on June 20, 2003, at age 20, hitting a walk-off home run in his first game—the third player since 1900 to do so. His strong July play earned him recognition, and he helped the Marlins win the 2003 World Series over the New York Yankees. Over the next four seasons, he was a regular for Florida before being traded to Detroit before the 2008 season.

In 2012, Cabrera led the AL with a .330 average, 44 homers, and 139 RBIs to win the Triple Crown, the first since Carl Yastrzemski in 1967, and earned AL MVP honors. The first half of 2013 saw him on pace to surpass those numbers; he became the first player to reach 30 homers and 90 RBIs before the All-Star break, projecting to .366, 53 homers, and 167 RBIs. Injuries slowed him in the second half, but he still posted a career-high .348 average and won his second straight MVP.

Cabrera won four AL batting titles, including three straight from 2011 to 2013, and batted over .300 in 11 seasons. He hit 30 or more homers in ten seasons and drove in 100-plus runs in 12 seasons, including 11 consecutive from 2004 to 2014. He holds the all-time Venezuelan records for career home runs (passing Andrés Galarraga) and hits (passing Omar Vizquel). He joined the 500-homer club in 2021 and the 3,000-hit club in 2022, becoming the seventh player to reach both milestones. Cabrera also represented Venezuela in five World Baseball Classics from 2006 to 2023.