“Tough Call” – Aaron Boone Talks About Intentionally Walking Miguel Cabrera One Hit Shy of Landmark

Aaron Boone may have drawn the crowds’ ire for intentionally walking Miguel Cabrera, but he believes it was a necessary call. With the New York Yankees matching up against the Detroit Tigers, Aaron Boone was stuck with a ‘tough call’ at the bottom of the 8th and he called it. With league legend Cabrera stuck at 2999 hits, one shy of the landmark to enter some vaunted company, Boone asked his pitcher to walk Cabrera to first base.

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Coming off a disappointing series loss to the Baltimore Orioles, the New York Yankees showed excellent form to take the first two games against the Detroit Tigers. But this series was also significant for Cabrera from an individual standpoint. Despite losing to the Yankees 4-2 on Wednesday, Cabrera notched three solid hits to bring his tally up to 2999. With the opportunity to capture his 3000th hit against the New York Yankees, fans in Comerica Park were raucous. Boone, however, had other plans.

Cabrera intentionally walked after Aaron Boone’s mound visit

Miguel Cabrera had not had the hitting night he had expected. With an 0-3 record on the lineup so far, he only got his 4th at-bat courtesy of a Tigers’ rally at the bottom of the 8th. And when he made his way to the plate, with applause from the crowd, everyone expected Miggy to get his 3000th. Boone, however, was looking at the New York Yankees. And he did not see the situation the same way.

After a visit to the mound, and Boone conferring with Lucas Luetge on the mound, Boone was more comfortable with the righty hitter on first. And so they decided. They would intentionally walk Cabrera. Said Boone, “Tough call, but one I had to make.”

Boone was reportedly more comfortable having the lefty pitcher take on a lefty hitter as opposed to Cabrera’s righty stance. “The left-on-left, I felt like I just liked the matchup a little bit better in that situation and it came down to a baseball call for me there,” he added.

Was the call a good one?

The call, however, did not work out well for the Yankees. The hitter on deck, Austin Meadows scored contact on a pitch that landed safely and drove in 2 insurance runs. Cabrera too seemed to be only too glad at having his team win despite losing out on the milestone.

Fan expectations, however, will be high as the Detroit Tigers take on the Colorado Rockies starting Friday. And as Cabrera winds up to enter MLB’s top hitters, the Tigers certainly will enter the series with some momentum having defeated the Yankees 3-0 in their last encounter for the series.

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Do you think Cabrera’s 3000th hit will put him up for contention with the greats of the game? Or do you think this is something he may take some more time with?