15-Year Marliniversary: Cabrera's Career Begins With Walk-Off Blast

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As the latter part of June arrived in 2003, the Florida Marlins looked to the minor leagues to shake things up a bit. After a dismal 19-29 start, the Fish were trying to fight their way back to .500 and a change in left field seemed like a way to potentially jump-start the team and the offense.

Todd Hollandsworth had been manning that position for the Marlins and was hitting .256 as of June 20, but with just two home runs and 14 RBIs. That's when Florida looked to a 20-year-old infielder named Miguel Cabrera to try to provide a spark.

Cabrera's debut came on this day 15 years and ended with a bang. The Marlins were 35-39 with a chance to gain some ground as the lowly Tampa Bay Devil Rays came to Pro Player Stadium to begin a 3-game set.

Nine innings would not be enough to decide the contest, which was a pitchers' duel for much of the evening. The only run for the Devils Rays came in the first inning on a sacrifice fly by Aubrey Huff. Florida drew even in the fourth on an RBI groundout by Andy Fox that scored Juan Pierre.

With the contest knotted 1-1 in the 11th inning, Cabrera came to the plate to face Al Levine with Alex Gonzalez on second base and one out. Sitting at 0-for-4 with one strikeout, Cabrera was still looking for his first big-league hit. That's when the legend of Miguel Cabrera began.

With the first pitch he saw from Levine, Cabrera crushed a massive 2-run walk-off home run to center to deliver the Marlins a 3-1 victory. Cabrera's stay in the Major Leagues from there on would be permanent.



Cabrera would go on to play a vital part in the Marlins' improbable run to the 2003 World Series. Perhaps the most notable moment for Cabrera that year was a 3-run home run off Roger Clemens, of the New York Yankees, in Game 4 of the Fall Classic.

Cabrera would spend five seasons with the Marlins, playing in 720 games and four All-Star games before being shipped to Detroit along with Dontrelle Willis for Cameron Maybin and Andrew Miller among other prospects.

During his time with the Marlins, Cabrera hit .313 with 138 home runs and 523 RBIs. Cabrera remains the club's all-time leader in batting average while ranking second in the other two categories.

Throughout the course of his career, Cabrera has reached the All-Star Game 11 times and is likely a first-ballot Hall of fame selection. Cabrera has gone on to win three batting titles with the Tigers, two American League MVP awards and in 2012, became the first player to win the Triple Crown in 45 years.

Cabrera's only stint as a world champion however came in his rookie season with the Florida Marlins. His debut came on this day 15 years ago.

 Mike Ferguson is the founder of Marlins Memories. Follow Mike on Twitter @MikeWFerguson.

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