For those who aren’t baseball fans, Miguel Cabrera (Migi) is retiring from actively playing baseball for the Detroit Tigers this weekend. His last game for this future Hall-of-Famer is Sunday. September 31, 2023, ending a historic twenty-year career, where he has set every hitting record. Fortunately, his last game is not the last the Detroit Tigers will see of Migi since he’s been retained as a special advisor to the President of baseball operations for the Tigers. Hopefully, he can assist as a batting coach as well. For those of us who are diehard Tiger fans, we’ll miss Migi’s big smile and booming bat.
.
My life has revolved around Ford Motor Company and the Michigan area. I have been a Tiger fan since my father took me to my first game as a kid. In Little League, I emulated the batting style of my Tiger hero, Willie Horton, and my playing style from Al Kaline; I started as a catcher to be like famed Tiger catcher Bill Freehand.

We moved significantly with my father’s job, so I was forced to give up my Little League career in sixth grade because we moved to Mexico City, where there weren’t Little League teams for American kids. I began playing football and basketball throughout high school while sticking with football in college.
No matter what sport I played or where I played it, it was always a special day when I could somehow catch a Tiger’s game. I nearly failed out of grad school in 1984 when the class time coincided with the Tiger’s miraculous 35-0 start before they went on to win the World Series. No class was as important as a Tiger’s game to Tiger fan who hadn’t seen a Tiger Championship since 1968. Even in 68, the teacher rolled the television into our classroom so we could watch the Championship games instead of doing classwork. She had their priorities straight or risked facing a riot.

I was fortunate to work out at Domino’s Farms when Domino owner Tom Monahan also owned the Tigers. He occasionally treated the families to box seats behind home plate and assisted us in getting player autographs.

I’m the kind of fan who suffered every loss through this season’s record of 78-84, or third place in the AL Central, only because I survived the 2003 season when they went 43-119, the worst record in MLB history. You have to be an optimist around here. I’ve lived through all the years with the Detroit Lions only to see them show a glimmer, a tease, of hope this year.
I can only hope for a better team next year now that this season is over. That’s life for a Tiger fan. I wish Miguel Cabrera the best life has to offer in thanks for providing those brief moments of excitement during his years with the Tigers. Adios for now y gracias mi amigo.