Cabrera's legacy is in the record books

Miguel Cabrera had just finished explaining http://www.authenticyankeesshop.com/authentic-11-brett-gardner-jers... that he wasn’t sure whether the baseballs from his 399th or 400th career home runs had been retrieved when Tigers equipment manager Jim Schmakel approached him.

“You want the jersey washed?” Schmakel asked.

“No,” Cabrera said, with a wave of his hand, as if to say, No big deal.

Cabrera looked around, knowing that reporters wanted to talk with him about the day’s events, and Cabrera hoped to move that conversation along. “I’ve got to go lift [weights],” he said, politely.

The baseballs, the jersey, the bat he used, the milestone homers -- these are all important mementos because it’s possible that Cabrera will end his career regarded as the greatest right-handed hitter of all time. However, it will be left to those around him to document his excellence, to keep track of the keepsakes and to put his achievements into context, because Cabrera seems to have only passing interest in talking about what he does well. As Tigers manager Brad Ausmus mentioned last weekend, Cabrera is like a 260-pound kid who just likes to play.

He’s not really into the numbers, although Francisco Rodriguez Youth Jersey career homer No. 400, which he hit during Saturday's 4-3 win over the Cardinals, resonated more with him than some of the other statistics he has compiled. With that homer, Cabrera set the record for most hits by a player born in Venezuela, passing Andres Galarraga, a man and icon that Cabrera remembers meeting when Cabrera was 16.

Cabrera is batting .333 with 10 homers and 29 RBIs in his first 37 games this season. In his career, Cabrera has a .320 batting average, 2,231 hits, 1,398 RBIs and, of course, all of those home runs.

“I’d like to be 32 years old and have 400 homers,” said fellow Venezuelan Victor Martinez, who is 36 years old and has 190 homers.

The other Tigers are in awe of Cabrera, how good he is, how well he knows the game. “As a hitter,” Martinez said with a smile, “he can be frustrating, thinking how good he is.”

Said David Price: “He is the best hitter in baseball. ... He is hands-down the smartest player in baseball.” And Price went on to explain how much awareness Cabrera has, how he knows where everybody is on the field and where everybody needs to be, to the point that he sometimes alerts the dugout if somebody is out of place.

Price cited, as an example, a play that Dennis Eckersley White Jersey Cabrera made in Saturday's , when he ranged toward the stands to catch a foul fly, then turned and fired a strike across the diamond to third to cut down Pete Kozma, who was tagging from second. Cabrera knew instantly that Kozma would try to take the base, Price said; he was not going to be surprised in that situation.

After Cabrera’s 399th homer Friday, Tigers coach Omar Vizquel asked center fielder Anthony Gose to approach the young fan who had retrieved that milestone ball. Gose followed orders, carrying with him a ball that was signed by Miguel Cabrera, and as the between-inning pitch clock counted down, he called out to the fan and asked if he could trade.

The fan’s father took the ball from his son and threw it to Gose, who, in turn, flipped the autographed ball to the fan to complete the swap. Then, rather than throw the milestone baseball back to the infield, Gose ran the ball back, to get it to Vizquel. “I didn’t want to get it dirty,” Gose explained.

Getting the No. 400 ball Saturday was easier, as it turned out. Cabrera launched the ball onto the grass beyond center field, and when a fan raced into the restricted area, he was immediately intercepted by security; the ball was taken, and after the game, Schmakel confirmed that the Tigers had possession of both baseballs.

Cabrera had indicated to Schmakel that he http://www.authentictwinsshop.com/authentic-54-ervin-santana-jersey... wanted to set aside the bat he used for No. 400, too. But a half-hour after Saturday’s game, Cabrera was in the weight room and Schmakel didn’t know where the bat was. So he picked through the three dented and dirty bats leaning against the side of Cabrera’s locker, trying to figure out where the milestone bat was. “He must’ve set it aside someplace,” Schmakel said, looking around the clubhouse.
No worries. Even if the bat can’t be located, Cabrera’s legacy is safe, stored away in the record books.