PicoBlog

I’m glad I took lots of photos, some of which you’ll see here, but I wish I’d taken more.

Twenty years later, Cabrera is planning to retire after the 2023 season, and he will do so with Hall of Fame credentials: He’s one of seven players in baseball history with 500 home runs and 3,000 hits, not to mention two MVP awards and his 2012 Triple Crown.

He’s played most of his career, the past 15 years, with the Detroit Tigers. But it all started with the Florida Marlins, the Major League Baseball organization that recognized his talent early on and signed him in 1999 shortly after his 16th birthday. 

He would rise through the minors for the next few years until, two months into the 2003 season, he was called up to the Marlins from their Class AA Carolina Mudcats. In his major league debut, the 20-year-old Cabrera hit a walkoff home run, a blast that not only sealed a Marlins win against Tampa Bay but announced his arrival to the big stage.

Four months later, he hit another memorable home run, this one off 41-year-old Roger Clemens in Game Four of the World Series, which Cabrera helped the Marlins win in six games over the New York Yankees.

He was a four-time All Star in his five seasons in Miami before the penny-pinching Marlins, knowing they could not afford him as a free agent, traded their star after the 2007 season to the Tigers. 

The Tigers are in Miami this weekend, and the three-game series has been a Miguel Cabrera lovefest celebrating his final games against the organization that gave him his start.

What a perfect occasion for a former Marlins beat writer to dig out some photos from a January 2004 trip to Venezuela.

The Palm Beach Post, my employer at the time, assigned me to write a profile for the newspaper’s annual spring training special section about the rising 20-year-old superstar returning to his home country for the offseason after he’d helped the Marlins win the World Series. 

What I witnessed was Miggymania, a rock-star reception the baby faced phenom seemed to embrace.  

The Post has always been known for its talented photographers. But in January 2004, the editors decided not to send one with me.

I never got a straight explanation. But I suspect the powers that be at the time weren’t convinced that Cabrera, who had yet to play a full major league season, was worth the investment of sending a photographer with me to Maracay, his hometown 90 minutes west of Caracas.

I mentioned that now only to explain the not-quite-ready-for-prime-time quality of many of the images I took with my small point-and-shoot Minolta.

With help from Venezuelan sportswriter Boris Mizrahi, who graciously served as host and translator, I spent three days reporting on the reception the Marlins rookie was enjoying back home after his first five months in the majors.

On Jan 26, 2004, the day before my 40th birthday, Cabrera graciously welcomed me to his new high-rise apartment in Maracay. He patiently answered questions with his new wife, who showed off their wedding album and introduced me to their Yorkshire Terrier. 

After the interview, we walked outside and took a photo together on the street.

I also spent time with his parents and sister; I remember his mom told me he loved Winnie the Pooh as a young child. 

The highlight of the trip was speaking to and sitting among fans who packed stadiums at Venezuelan Winter League games to watch the returning World Series hero play for his hometown team, the Tigres de Aragua. 

My story was published in The Post’s spring training 2004 section, but the spread did not include the majority of the images you see here in this article. 

While the story offered a flattering portrayal of young Miguel Cabrera, it would not lead to a warm and close professional relationship with him in the years that followed. 

There would be a few Palm Beach Post stories during his Marlins years that Cabrera would not like, including one written by me on the eve of the 2006 season. In general, those stories described the growing pains of a young rising star who could be reluctant at times to follow the advice of veteran players and team advisors.

Cabrera, of course, turned into a superstar on the field. Now, in his final season, he is receiving deserved accolades and honors from each city the Tigers visit. 

Particularly special to him is this weekend, dubbed by the Marlins marketing team as Miguel Cabrera Weekend.  

“It is very emotional because this is where it all started,” Cabrera told reporters before the Tigers lost to the Marlins 6-5 in Friday’s series opener. “To be back here is awesome.”

I haven’t seen or spoken to Cabrera in more than 10 years. The last time was before a Tigers-Marlins spring training game at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium in Jupiter. He reluctantly acknowledged my hello.

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