Miggy joins 500-HR club

Miguel Cabrera became the 5th player in DMBL history to reach 500 home runs, doing it as a member of the Empire City Trojans after bouncing around the league the past few seasons.

Cabrera went deep in his first at-bat against Hopatcong's Marco Gonzales in a 6-3 win on July 13 at home. The historic home by Miggy came after the lefty intentionally walked Teoscar Hernandez. Gonzalez would later give up back-to-back homers in the 2nd before exiting. The Trojans would go on to win 6-3 over the Floating Fish.

With 4 HRs now on the season, Cabrera passed Manny Ramirez (498) to move into 5th place all-time and 2nd among active players, trailing Albert Pujols, who's playing in Livingston this year. Cabrera may wind up ranked 5th for a very long time, as the four ahead of him have healthy leads:

• Jim Thome, 531
• Pujols, 588 (and counting)
• Alex Rodriguez, 600
• Barry Bonds, 683

Cabrera ranks in the top 5 in most all-time batting counting categories and the active leader in some. He remains in striking distance of Manny Ramirez (538) for 2nd all-time in doubles (534), trailing Chipper Jones by 27 for No. 1 (561). He also now stands 3rd in hits with 2,746, trailing Jones (2,826) and Derek Jeter (2,994). He passed Thome to move into 3rd all-time with 2,110 strikeouts, behind Ramirez (2,161) and Rodriguez (2,213).

The 39-year-old Venezuelan was drafted in the 4th round of the 2004 DMBL draft, spending time at 3B and OF before moving to 1B full-time in 2009. He would become the big bat in the Cutters' lineup, helping them win DMBL titles in 2013 and 2017 - when he won his only Kevin Mitchell Award as the league's top batter, edging out Hopatcong rookie Gary Sanchez.

Cabrera's hey day in Hoboken ended after the 2018 season, a year when he only managed to play 60 games before taking the 2019 DMBL season off. In 2020, Tucson took a flyer on him in the supplemental draft but he didn't stick around past spring training. Cabrera latched on as a fill-in in Arkansas and then Hopatcong that season. He enjoyed a minor resurgence in 2021 in San Francisco where he slugged 22 HRs in 162 games, the first time he played a full schedule of games since his final year in Hoboken. Empire City signed him as a free agent early this season.