October 3, 2012: Miguel Cabrera Ends the Triple Crown Drought

October 3, 2012: Major League Baseball's regular season comes to an end. The Detroit Tigers beat the Kansas City Royals, 1-0 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City. Although the Tigers have already clinched the American League Central Division title, they go all out to win this game. It takes 4 Tiger pitchers -- Mark Scherzer for 4 innings, Drew Smyly for 2/3rds of an inning, Luis Marte for 3 1/3rd for the win, and Luke Putkonen for 1 -- to pitch a 6-hit shutout. The only run of the game comes in the top of the 5th inning, when Austin Jackson doubles home Omar Infante.

The Tigers' Miguel Cabrera clinches the AL Triple Crown, becoming the 1st player to do so since 1967 when Carl Yastrzemski accomplished the feat with Boston -- making him the 1st player to do it in my lifetime. The 29-year-old native of Maracay, Venezuela leads the circuit with a .330 batting average, 44 home runs and 139 RBIs. Naturally, he was named the AL's Most Valuable Player. He would receive the MVP again the next season.

He helped the Florida Marlins win the World Series as a rookie in 2003. But their cheapness led to his being traded to the Tigers for the 2008 season. They moved him from 3rd base to 1st base. He helped them win the Pennant in 2012. At the close of the 2022 season, he is a member of the 500 Home Run Club, and is just short of the 3,000 Hit Club.

UPDATE: He retired after the 2023 season, with a lifetime batting average of .306; 3,174 hits including 627 doubles, 17 triples and 511 home runs; 1,881 RBIs; a career OPS+ of 142, and 12 All-Star Game appearances. He will be eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2029. It is expected that, upon his election, the Tigers will retire his Number 24.

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October 3, 2012 was a Wednesday. Football was in midweek, and the NBA and NHL seasons were about to start. Elsewhere in baseball:

* The greatest moment in Washington Nationals "Racing Presidents" history. After getting off to a slow start in the regular-season finale against Philadelphia, Teddy Roosevelt finally beats George Washington, Abe Lincoln, and Tom Jefferson to the finish line, winning the race for the 1st time since it made its debut at RFK Stadium in 2006.

The victory, the mascot's 1st after 525 losses, is assured when a green furry creature, who bears a striking resemblance to a phony Phillie Phanatic, waylays the other 3 Presidential contenders in right field. The reason the Phake Phanatic was there was that the Nats were playing the Philadelphia Phillies, and beat them, 5-1.

The Nats had already clinched the National League Eastern Division, ending the Phils' 5-year reign at the top. Beset by injuries, they had fallen to 81-81, ending their greatest run ever: 5 seasons, 5 Division titles, 2 Pennants, and the 2008 World Championships. 

In 2019, Teddy finally had a season in which he won the most races, 31.

* In other dubious baseball action, Texas Rangers center fielder Josh Hamilton's 4th inning-error opens the floodgates that allow the Oakland Athletics to erase a 5-run deficit when they score 6 times, en route to their 12-5 victory at the Oakland Coliseum (then named the O.co Coliseum).

The A's had been 13 games out of 1st place in the AL West on June 30, and 6 games out on August 25. But their hot streak and the Rangers' nosedive leaves the A's as AL Western Division Champions, and puts the Rangers into the new best-2-out-of-3-games AL Wild Card Series.

This comes after the Rangers' pathetic performance in the 2010 World Series and their embarrassing choke job in Game 6 of the 2011 World Series. They do not yet have the choke reputation of, say, the Red Sox, the Cubs, or the Indians — but they should.

* The New York Yankees clinch the AL Eastern Division title, finishing off a tough race against the Baltimore Orioles, and doing so by beating the Auld Enemy, the Boston Red Sox, 14-2 at the new Yankee Stadium. The O's are relegated to the AL Wild Card Series, against the Rangers.

Hiroki Kuroda went 7 innings for the win, while Daisuke Matsuzaka didn't get out of the 3rd inning. Curtis Granderson hit his 42nd and 43rd home runs of the season, while Robinson Canó hit his 32nd and 33rd. Canó had 6 RBIs, Granderson 4. Derek Jeter went 1-for-4.

That one felt pretty good. But it would take the Yankees 7 years to win another Division title -- because, or so it seemed, Brian Cashman's priority wasn't putting the Yankees in the best possible position to advance in the postseason, but rather to sell tickets and stay under the luxury tax threshold.

* Two Cleveland Indians legends each play their last major league game -- but neither does so for the Indians. The Tampa Bay Rays beat the Baltimore Orioles, 4-1 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida,, and Jim Thome goes 0-for-4 as the O's DH.

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Minnesota Twins, 2-1 at the Rogers Centre in Toronto, and Omar Vizquel, at 45 the oldest man ever to play shortstop in the major leagues, and the last remaining MLB player from the 1980s, goes 1-for-3 for the Jays.

* Having already clinched the NL Central Division, the Cincinnati Reds lost to the St. Louis Cardinals, 1-0 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. Matt Carpenter provides the only run in the bottom of the 8th, singling home Shane Robinson.

It takes 5 pitchers for the Cards to finish a 3-hit shutout: Shelby Miller allowed 1 hit and 2 walks over 6, and only threw 72 pitches; Sam Freeman allowed a hit and no walks in the 7th, Victor Marté allowed a hit in the 8th and became the winning pitcher, Marc Rzepczynski got the 1st out in the 9th, and Jason Motte got the last 2, neither of them allowing a baserunner.

* The San Francisco Giants had already clinched the NL Western Division, but it probably still bothered them that they lost their regular-season finale to their arch-rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers, 5-1 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Clayton Kershaw outpitched Ryan Vogelsong. 

* The Atlanta Braves beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 4-0 at PNC Park in Pittsburgh. How many Braves pitchers does it take to pitch a 3-hit, no-walk shutout? This may be a record: 8. Ben Sheets pitched the 1st inning, Luis Avilán the 2nd, Julio Teherán the 3rd and the 4th, Randall Delgado the 5th, Cory Gearrin the 6th, Eric O'Flaherty the 7th, Jonny Venters the 8th, and Craig Kimbrel the 9th.

What were the Braves thinking? They had the NL Wild Card Series with the Cardinals coming up, and I guess they didn't want to "waste" a starting pitcher.

* The New York Mets beat the Miami Marlins, 4-2 at Marlins Park (now LoanDepot Park) in Miami.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Cleveland Indians, 9-0 at Progressive Field in Cleveland. Gavin Floyd goes 7 innings, and 2 relievers help him complete the 5-hit shutout.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Houston Astros, 5-4 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

* The San Diego Padres beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 7-6 at Miller Park (now American Family Field) in Milwaukee.

* The Colorado Rockies beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 2-1 at Chase Field in Phoenix.

* And the Seattle Mariners beat the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, 12-0 at Safeco Field (now T-Mobile Park) in Seattle. There were 5 shutouts on the final day of the season, and this was the only one that required as little as 2 pitchers: Blake Beavan allowed 7 hits and a walk over the 1st 8 innings, and Stephen Pryor pitched a perfect 9th.

May 17, 1970: Hank Aaron Is the 1st Player to 3,000 Hits & 500 Homers

Left to right: Stan Musial, unknown umpire,

Hank Aaron, Braves owner Bill Bartholomay

May 17, 1970: Hank Aaron of the Atlanta Braves singles home a run against Wayne Simpson of the Cincinnati Reds, at Crosley Field in Cincinnati. It is the 3,000th hit of his career, making him the 1st player in Major League Baseball history to have both major career hitting milestones: 3,000 hits and 500 home runs.

Aaron beats Willie Mays to this distinction by 62 days. Later in the game, he hit his 570th home run, and finished the game 3-for-5 with 5 RBIs. But the Reds carried the day, which went 15 innings. It was pitcher Don Gullett, batting for himself because he was the last unused man on the Cincinnati roster, who singled home the winning run, and the Reds won, 7-6, completing a doubleheader sweep.

The Reds had won the 1st game, 5-1, with Jim Merritt outpitching Pat Jarvis. Five days earlier, Jarvis had pitched against the Chicago Cubs, and gave up the 500th career home run of Ernie Banks. The Cubs won that game, 4-3 in 11 innings at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

Over the 2 games, Aaron went 3-for-9 with a home run, 2 walks and 3 RBIs; Pete Rose went 2-for-9 with 2 home runs, 2 walks, and 3 RBIs; and Johnny Bench went 3-for-11 with a home run and and 3 RBIs.

Aaron joining the 500 Home Run Club in 1968, only 34 years old, was the first sign that maybe he would be the player to break Babe Ruth's record of 714 career home runs. Up until then, the player who seemed most likely to do it was Mays, who had surpassed Mickey Mantle as such when he surpassed Mantle on the home run list in 1964.

Among those on hand to congratulate Aaron on his milestone was Stan Musial, who, until then, was the last player to reach 3,000 hits. He finished his career with 475 home runs.

The list of players who have done 3000/500 is more surprising for who is not on it than it is for who is on it. The greatest hitter who ever lived? Most people will say either Ruth or Ted Williams. Ruth hit 714 home runs, a record that lasted until Aaron surpassed him with 755, but he finished with 2,873 hits. I suspect that if someone had told him that, one day, 3,000 hits would be considered a big deal, he would have gone for it.

As for Williams, he closed his career by hitting a home run in his last at-bat, his 521st homer. But, because he missed the equivalent of 5 seasons serving in 2 different wars, his career hit total was 2,654. Barry Bonds, who would use steroids to surpass Aaron's record and finish with 762 home runs, had 2,935 hits. Mantle's many injuries did not prevent him from hitting 536 home runs, but they did limit him to 2,415 hits.

Musial had 3,630 hits, but, as I said, fell short of 500 home runs, at 475. Carl Yastrzemski had 3,419 hits, but 452 home runs. Dave Winfield had 3,110 hits, but 465 home runs. Frank Robinson hit 586 home runs, but fell short of 3,000 hits, with 2,943. Mel Ott hit 511 home runs, but had 2,876 hits.

Here's the players who have done both:

1. May 17, 1970: Hank Aaron. He finished with 3,771 hits, including 755 home runs. In other words, without counting his home runs, he still had over 3,000 hits.

2. July 18, 1970: Willie Mays. He finished with 3,283 hits, including 600 home runs.

3. September 6, 1996: Eddie Murray. He is the only player, so far, to get his 3,000th hit first, and his 500th home run second. He finished with 3,255 hits, including 504 home runs.

4. July 15, 2005: Rafael Palmeiro. He finished with 3,020 hits, including 569 home runs. He would have finished with more, but he failed a steroid test, got benched, got released, and was not signed by anyone else, essentially blackballed from baseball.

5. June 19, 2015: Alex Rodriguez. He finished his career with 3,115 hits, including 696 home runs. But he, too, was exposed as a steroid user.

6. May 14, 2018: Albert Pujols. He finished his career with 3,308 hits, including 703 home runs.

7. April 23, 2002: Miguel Cabrera. As of May 17, 2022, he is still active. (UPDATE: He retired after the 2023 season, with 3,174 hits, including 511 home runs.)

So, out of 22,000 or so men who have played Major League Baseball since it began in 1871, only 7 have both 3,000 hits and 500 home runs -- and only 5 have done so honestly.

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May 17, 1970 was a Sunday. Basketball player Hubert Davis and New Kids On The Block singer Jordan Knight were born.

These other games were played in Major League Baseball:

* The Montreal Expos beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 8-7 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. Roberto Clemente went 2-for-5 with 2 RBIs. Willie Stargell appeared as a pinch-hitter, and drove in a run with a bases-loaded walk.

* The Kansas City Royals swept a doubleheader from the Chicago White Sox, 3-2 and 8-4 at Comiskey Park. Both games went to extra innings. In the opener, Joe Keough doubled Amos Otis home in the top of the 10th. In the nightcap, the Royals scored 4 runs in the top of the 11th, including a home run by Pat Kelly.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 6-1 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Harmon Killebrew went 0-for-3 with a walk. Rod Carew went 2-for-5 with an RBI.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat their arch-rivals, 4-3 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. Lou Brock went 0-for-4. Ernie Banks also went 0-for-4, but had an RBI on a groundout.

* The San Diego Padres beat the Houston Astros, 5-3 at San Diego Stadium (later Jack Murphy Stadium and Qualcomm Stadium).

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat their arch-rivals, the San Francisco Giants, 8-0 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Claude Osteen pitched a 4-hit shutout. Willie Mays went 1-for-3 with a walk. Willie McCovey went 0-for-2 before getting the rest of the game off.

* A doubleheader was split at the Oakland Coliseum. The California Angels won the 1st game, 7-1. The Oakland Athletics won the 2nd game, 6-5. Greg Garrett walked Bert Campaneris with the bases loaded, forcing Sal Bando home, in the bottom of the 10th inning. Over the 2 games, Reggie Jackson went 1-for-8 with a walk and an RBI.

* The Baltimore Orioles and the Washington Senators were rained out at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium in Washington. The game was made up on June 29. The Senators won, 5-3. The Senators scored 3 runs, including a home run by Aurelio Rodríguez, off Mike Cuellar in the bottom of the 8th to come from behind, making Jim Shellenback the winning pitcher. Frank Howard also hit a home run. For the O's, Brooks Robinson and Frank Robinson each went 1-for-4.

* The New York Mets and the Philadelphia Phillies were rained out at Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia. The game was made up as part of a doubleheader on July 2. The Phils swept, 6-1 and 3-2.

* The Boston Red Sox and the Cleveland Indians were rained out at Fenway Park in Boston. The game was made up as part of a doubleheader on July 3. The Red Sox swept, 2-1 and 5-4. Over the 2 games, Carl Yastrzemski went 4-for-7 with a home run, 2 walks, and an RBI.

* The New York Yankees and the Detroit Tigers were rained out at Yankee Stadium. The game was made up as part of a doubleheader on August 6. The Tigers won the 1st game, 2-1. Mike Kilkenny outpitched Mel Stottlemyre. Al Kaline went 1-for-4, then got the 2nd game off.

The Yankees won the 2nd game, 7-5. Stan Bahnsen and Joe Niekro started, but Ron Klimkowski was the winning pitcher, and John Hiller was the losing pitcher. Roy White and Bobby Murcer hit home runs.

There was 1 other score to report: Game 2 of the American Basketball Association Finals was played at the Indiana State Fair Coliseum (now the Corteva Coliseum) in Indianapolis. The Indiana Pacers beat the Los Angeles Stars, 114-111. The Stars went on to win the title in 6 games.

The NBA Championship had been decided 9 days earlier, with the New York Knicks beating the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 7 of the Finals. The NHL Championship had been decided 7 days earlier, with the Boston Bruins sweeping the St. Louis Blues in the Stanley Cup Finals in 4 straight. And football was out of season.