As I start typing this Miguel Cabrera is sitting at 2,999 hits. He went 0-3 on Thursday before he was intentionally walked by new public enemy number 1 in Detroit: Aaron Boone.
I had a sports first Thursday. I went to a sporting event by myself. Not being able to witness history aside, it was awesome! I got up when I wanted, I made new friends in my section, I got to sit in a ballpark on a beautiful afternoon and get some sun, and I got to chant “Yankees suck” with 20,000 of my closest strangers.
“A Baseball Decision”
Baseball holds itself in the highest of standards when it comes to it’s traditions and it’s “un-written” rules. We’ve talked about that many times on this site. I speak only for myself here when I say that those un-written rules should have been followed yesterday. Am I biased? Yes. Do I understand the decision that Aaron Boone made to intentionally walk Miggy seeing as there was a lefty on lefty matchup behind him and first base was open? Yes. Do I like that decision or agree with it? Nope. Did it feel great when Austin Meadows blooped a ball into the outfield in said lefty on lefty matchup and increased the lead from 1-0 to 3-0? ABSO-EFFING-LUTELY!!!
Trust me when I tell you that I’m coming from a purely emotional place when I took to the keys today. I don’t think I speak just for myself when I say that Tigers fans are sitting on pins and needles for when Miguel Cabrera hits his next milestone and joins even more elite ranks of baseball history. I mean over 20,000 people were at a Thursday day game…….IN APRIL. And we as a fan base and a city will likely explode when he does. (I mean it’s no secret that Detroit sports as a whole have struggled recently.)
But come on Aaron Boone, correct baseball decision or not, you know you robbed a city and a fan base of a moment that most of us have been counting down to for the better part of the last 6 months. If there was ever a time to follow an “unwritten rule” it was yesterday and just let Miguel Cabrera make history. You lost anyways. I feel a little better now that that’s out. I’d feel better though if I had gotten to see number 3,000 in person.
