Miguel Cabrera’s Retirement Ends A Historical Trend
Miguel Cabrera has been a major leaguer since 2003, a span that covers 21 seasons.
He was the longest-tenured MLB player until he retired this past weekend.
He had been around for so long that no other current player in baseball has played the Montreal Expos.
“With Miguel Cabrera’s final game yesterday, there are no longer any active MLB hitters who faced the Montreal Expos,” MLB on FOX tweeted.
With Miguel Cabrera’s final game yesterday, there are no longer any active MLB hitters who faced the Montreal Expos pic.twitter.com/nK4ZPd22FF
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) October 2, 2023
The Expos were an active MLB franchise from 1969 to 2004.
Starting in 2005, they moved to Washington and became the Nationals, a team that won its first World Series in 2019.
No player on an active 2023 roster had faced the Expos, except for Cabrera.
In 31 games between 2003 and 2004, the slugger hit .279/.352/.532 with seven home runs and a .884 OPS in 126 plate appearances against Montreal.
He did it as a member of the Florida Marlins, now the Miami Marlins.
It’s funny because Montreal is being discussed as a potential expansion location by MLB these days.
According to Jeremy Filosa, some people in MLB might be interested in Montreal as the league is eager to welcome two new teams in the near future.
There will be a lot of competition, though: New Orleans, Orlando, Nashville, Charlotte, Salt Lake City, and Portland, among others, are also shaping up as candidates.
It would certainly be nice for old-schoolers who saw some legendary stars like Andre Dawson, Tim Raines, Vladimir Guerrero, Gary Carter, Larry Walker, Pedro Martinez, and others play in Montreal to have baseball back in the city.
Cabrera’s retirement closes a chapter in today’s baseball.
Is it possible for that chapter to be open again in the future?
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