The Los Angeles Dodgers and Detroit Tigers meeting for an Interleague matchup at Dodger Stadium provided Brusdar Graterol an opportunity to spend time with Miguel Cabrera, who was a childhood hero of his.
Graterol and Cabrera met on the field during batting practice to exchange pleasantries, and the Tigers’ designated hitter also gifted an autographed jersey to his fellow Venezuelan native. Graterol shared photos of the inscribed jersey and himself with Cabrera on social media.
When Cabrera reached 3,000 career hits, Graterol said he was overcome with emotion. He also revealed Cabrera’s jersey was the first one he ever owned.
Cabrera is among 33 players in MLB history with at least 3,000 career hits. However, he’s just one of seven to have 3,000 hits and a minimum of 500 home runs. That select group includes Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Eddie Murray, Rafael Palmeiro, Albert Pujols and Alex Rodriguez.
Agradecido con el ídolo ejemplo a seguir papá ,poner Venezuela 🇻🇪 en alto ,muchas gracias mi hermano bendiciones siempre 🙏🏾🫡 @MiguelCabrera pic.twitter.com/91XkK4Y29A
— brusdar graterol (@BrusdarGraterol) May 1, 2022
Albert Pujols, at the time Dodgers, congratulated Cabrera last season on reaching 500 career home runs last season.
Cabrera is the seventh player born outside of the continental United States to reach 3,000 hits. He’s accompanied by Adrián Beltré and Pujols (Dominican Republic), Ichiro Suzuki (Japan), Palmeiro (Cuba), Roberto Clemente (Puerto Rico) and Rod Carew (Panama).
Graterol faced Cabrera
In what presumably was a surreal moment for the Dodgers’ relief pitcher, Cabrera was the first batter Graterol faced when he entered with two outs in the seventh inning on Saturday night.
Cabrera drew a walk, which led to an RBI single before Graterol could get out of the inning in an eventual loss for the Dodgers.
Cabrera was hitless through the first two games of the series and had gone 0-for-3 with three strikeouts against Walker Buehler before hitting a two-run off Phil Bickford in the eighth inning on Sunday.
Are you following Dodger Blue on Instagram? It’s the best way to see exclusive coverage from games and events, get your questions answered, and more!