Tigers Fans Livid After Yankees Walked Miguel Cabrera With 3,000th Hit on the Line
Miguel Cabrera's quest for his 3,000th hit will last another day. The 39-year-old went 0-for-3 with a walk against the New York Yankees on Thursday, pushing his pursuit of the milestone to the weekend. But that walk is getting a lot of attention, as the Yankees opted to give him an intentional free pass in the bottom of the eighth inning. Needless to say the home Detroit Tigers fans were not happy.
The Yankees trailed 1-0 in the eighth with runners on second and third and two outs. Cabrera came to the plate and before he could dig in, manager Aaron Boone gave the signal to walk him.
Here's the reaction from the crowd in Detroit:
After getting intentionally walked, Miggy calms down the fans. ? pic.twitter.com/1FAgQYg18l
— Cut4 (@Cut4) April 21, 2022
"Yankees suck!" chants broke out at Comerica Park after Aaron Boone decided to intentionally walk Miguel Cabrera
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) April 21, 2022
(via @ByAZuniga)pic.twitter.com/9u1jHIdwzb
Yankees suck chants at Comerica after the IBB to Miguel Cabrera with him having a chance for 3,000. pic.twitter.com/bZETVC5PD1
— Marly Rivera (@MarlyRiveraESPN) April 21, 2022
That walk loaded the bases for Austin Meadows who made the Yankees pay for their decision:
Yankees intentionally walk Miguel Cabrera then Austin Meadows dunks in a two-run single
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) April 21, 2022
"Yankees suck" chants rain down at Comerica pic.twitter.com/woJSilUfE7
Cabrera attempted to calm the crowd after it happened:
Miguel Cabrera did his best to appease the (extremely angry) crowd at Comerica who was extremely disappointed at not seeing Cabrera get a chance to bat for 3,000 having been issued an intentional base on balls. pic.twitter.com/gutkr5fM6e
— Marly Rivera (@MarlyRiveraESPN) April 21, 2022
After the game Boone tried to justify his actions:
Aaron Boone on the call to intentionally walk Miguel Cabrera. pic.twitter.com/QDEpqg6lfV
— Marly Rivera (@MarlyRiveraESPN) April 21, 2022
Here's the thing: I get that it was a one-run game and you have to do your best to win it, but that feels like a bad look and I get why Tigers fans were so upset. Luckily for Cabrera & Co., Meadows made the Yankees pay for that decision.
Cabrera will become the 33rd player in MLB history to get his 3,000th hit soon, but it would have been nice to see it before the weekend.