After a three-hit performance on Wednesday, Detroit Tigers legend Miguel Cabrera is now a single hit from achieving one of MLB’s most respected feats for a batter: 3,000 hits.
Everything was ready for Cabrera to get there on Thursday, in front of his fans, against the team that thought that if he ever made it to the big leagues, it would be as a pitcher: the New York Yankees.
But it wasn’t meant to be: he went 0-for-3 with a walk and two strikeouts.
That walk ended up being the most controversial part of his stat line.
It wasn’t a normal walk: it was an intentional base on balls given by Yankees’ manager Aaron Boone in the eighth inning, Cabrera’s last chance to hit in Thursday’s game.
There is at least some logic behind Boone’s decision: with two men on base, two outs, and a left-handed pitcher on the mound, he preferred to walk the right-handed Cabrera and take his chances with Austin Meadows, a left-handed hitter, to get the matchup advantage.
It ended up backfiring, because Meadows ripped a two-run double that put the game out of reach for the Yankees.
Tigers Fans Didn’t Like What Boone Did
Nevertheless, the Tigers’ crowd didn’t care about matchups, lefty-righty splits, or anything, for that matter: they mercilessly booed Boone for his decision to take the bat from Cabrera’s hands in his last chance to hit on Thursday.
Boos could not be louder as Aaron Boone asks for an intentional walk to Cabrera in his 8th inning AB pic.twitter.com/bqpHvJbDjE
— Marly Rivera (@MarlyRiveraESPN) April 21, 2022
Fortunately for Tigers fans, the team will be starting off a new series against the Colorado Rockies on Friday, and it will be at home: Comerica Park.
Yes, Cabrera will still have the chance to reach the historic milestone in front of his fans.
One can’t help but feel bad for those who paid their tickets for Thursday’s game, though.
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