Miguel Cabrera free pass with 2,999 hits riles Tigers fans

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Miguel Cabrera was set to stroll to the plate and fans rose to their feet and roared, hoping to witness his 3,000th hit.

Instead, they saw his 236th career intentional walk.

A strategically sound move by manager Aaron Boone and the New York Yankees. A very unpopular decision in Detroit.

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Detroit Tigers' Miguel Cabrera runs to first base after being intentionally walked against the New York Yankees in the eighth inning of a baseball game in Detroit, Thursday, April 21, 2022.  (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

The crowd, eager all afternoon to see the milestone, responded with perhaps the loudest boos ever heard at a Tigers game since Comerica Park opened in 2000 and shouted derisive chants at the Yankees.

Cabrera, though, insisted multiple times that he had no problem with Boone's move because Detroit beat New York 3-0 Thursday.

"That’s the beautiful game of baseball," Cabrera said outside the clubhouse soon after the game ended.

Cabrera was 0 for 3 with two strikeouts, forcing him and Tigers fans to wait at least another day for him to hit the 3,000 mark, a milestone just 32 players have reached in Major League Baseball history.

Ahead 1-0, the Tigers loaded the bases with no outs in the eighth against Miguel Castro. Reliever Lucas Luetge got Jeimer Candelario to hit a comebacker that was turned into a double play.

That brought Cabrera to the plate with two outs and runners on second and third. The 39-year-old slugger didn’t make even make it into the batter's box because Boone held up four fingers to give Cabrera, a former Marlins teammate, a free pass to the unoccupied base.

Boone said the crowd