Miguel Cabrera receives rocking chair from Washington Nationals amid farewell tour
Every Detroit Tigers road series this season has seen each MLB team honor Miguel Cabrera during his farewell tour. Teams have given him a cheesehead hat, made donations to his charity, a special video package — and the gifts are sure to keep coming.
This was no different on Friday during the Detroit Tigers’ road trip against the Washington Nationals. Only this time, the 40-year-old veteran received a folded American flag, a base signed by the entire Nats roster and most importantly — a rocking chair perfect for his retirement.
Cabrera, who did not play on Friday in the Tigers’ 8-6 win, but was all smiles after receiving the set of generous gifts from another MLB ball club.
Cabrera is mainly used as a designated hitter for the Tigers these days. He’s batting a career low .184 (14-77) and has not added a home run to his 507 career long balls.
Those who have followed Cabrera’s career know this is incredibly unusual for him — even if he doesn’t play every day. He has a career batting average over .300 and a 67.0 WAR (his WAR is -0.7 in 2023). The 12-time MLB All-Star has numerous accolades to his credit, including being a seven-time silver slugger, four-time AL batting champion, two-time AL home run leader (and RBIs). He won the AL Hank Aaron Award twice, and the AL triple crown (leading the league in batting average, home runs and RBIs) in 2012.
He entered the big league in 2003 after a mid-season call-up from the then-Florida Marlins. He played 87 games during his rookie season and in that time, showed signs of the greatness that would soon come after smashing 84 hits over a half-season span. He contributed 39 runs and was stellar at the plate with 36 extra base hits, including 12 home runs en route to his first and only World Series Championship.
Cabrera stayed in Miami until December of 2007 when he was when he was traded to Detroit alongside starting pitcher Dontrelle Willis for a handful of players. By March, the Tigers and Cabrera came to terms on an eight-year, $152.3 million contract extension — the fourth largest contract in MLB history at the time.
That eight-year contract has turned into a 16-season stay for Cabrera in Detroit. In that time, he has become one of the greatest Tigers in the organization’s history. There’s still a ton of baseball to be played this season, meaning there’s more than enough time for more clubs to honor the future Hall of Famer. It’ll be tough trying to top the rocking chair, though.