Dave Concepción: Miguel Cabrera 'is the greatest baseball player of the Venezuelan country'

Miguel Cabrera always wanted to be like Dave Concepción.

Concepción, now 75, won two World Series and five Gold Gloves in 19 seasons with the Cincinnati Reds, from 1970-88, as well as three championships with Tigres de Aragua in the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League. The nine-time All-Star, who finished his MLB career with 2,326 hits, is one of the best baseball players from Venezuela.

Both Concepción and Cabrera grew up in Maracay.

"My family, when I was growing up, always talked about him," said Cabrera, who is 35 years younger than Concepción. "My uncle (David Torres) had a nice relationship with him. My family always talked about his game and the way he played, like how smart he was when he played shortstop and when he was hitting. I wanted to be David Concepción, and I wanted to play shortstop in the big leagues. I played a couple of innings, but I didn't play enough to be like him."

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Cabrera, who played 168 games at shortstop in the minor leagues, concludes his legendary 21-year MLB career on Sunday when the Detroit Tigers finish the 2023 season against the Cleveland Guardians at Comerica Park.

The 40-year-old enters his final two games with a .307 batting average, 3,173 hits, 511 home runs, 626 doubles and 1,880 RBIs across 2,795 games with the Florida Marlins (2003-07) and Tigers (2008-23). He has stepped into the batter's box more than 11,780 times since his MLB debut in June 2003.

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Cabrera, a 12-time All-Star, won the World Series in 2003, American League MVP in 2012 and 2013, a Triple Crown in 2012 and four AL batting titles in 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2015. He is one of three players — along with Hank Aaron and Albert Pujols — with at least 500 home runs, 600 doubles and 3,000 hits.

Concepción inspired Cabrera's greatness.

In a phone interview with the Free Press, Concepción reflected on Cabrera's career — from his youth to his adulthood — and the impact "Miggy" has left on the history of baseball in Venezuela.

When did you first meet Miguel Cabrera?

"I didn't know much about him until he was 10 years old. I was the manager of the Little League team in Venezuela. We played games against South American countries. His dad (Miguel Cabrera Sr.) was my third-base coach, and he told me, 'My son made the team, but he's too tall to play.' He was too tall, so we couldn't put him in games. (In those days, height — not age — determined what league a player would participate in.) So, Miguel asked me, 'David, can I be your bat boy?' I said, 'Yes, you can be my bat boy. You can hit batting practice and do everything that everybody does.' Miguel was my bat boy, but he couldn't play in the tournament because he was too tall."

So, what year would that have been?

"I think he was 10 years old. He was 10 or 11. It was 1993 or 1994. After that, he kept playing. He was growing up and making every team, and he made the All-Star teams, and then (the Marlins) signed him (in 1999). He was a great ballplayer from the day he started playing."

What was it like watching 10-year-old Cabrera in batting practice?

"He was so tall, so he could hit the ball farther than everybody else. He has always been a strong kid. He has always been strong and stocky. He knew the game very well because he was around his uncles and his mother. His mother (Gregoria Cabrera) was a catcher for the Venezuela national softball team. His uncles (David Torres, Jose Torres) played baseball. They were good players. When he grew up, his grandmother's house was on the first-base side of the field. Miguel's grandma lived really close to the ballpark, so he always went to the field. I believe he was there a lot. I didn't follow him when he was little, but I've known the whole family for 50 years."

Back then, did you think Cabrera could have a Hall of Fame career?

"Not really. He had the potential to be a professional baseball player because he hit the ball hard and had size. He could play and all that, but he was only 10 years old. You couldn't say he was going to be as great of a player as he is right now. It's difficult to predict something you've never seen."

Cabrera wanted to be like you when he was younger.

"I was a professional player. He saw me play maybe two or three years. I retired in 1991 in Venezuela (with Tigres de Aragua). I played three more years here in Venezuela after retiring from the big leagues (in 1988). He was very young. His mother and father used to take him to the ballpark. Both families are great baseball fans."

Why do you think Cabrera looked up to you?

"In my country and hometown, where I am living right now, I was the first professional and big-league player from this town. Everybody was looking up to me. I became a great ballplayer, and all the Venezuelan players wanted to wear my number, No. 13. Now, they're wearing 24. The young kids are wearing 24. It's a great number, too."

Did you give Cabrera any advice?

"Not really. He signed (with the Marlins) and came up. I saw him play at the beginning of his career, and then for Tigres (de Aragua in Venezuela). I just watched. He was a natural. You didn't need to tell him much. He did everything easy and nice. He was a good fielder when he was a young kid playing shortstop. He put on some weight, so they had to move him to another position, but he had good hands, too."

What impressed you the most about his career?

"Everywhere he went, he hit the ball out of the ballpark. He's a tremendous player. Right now, he's 40 years old. Every player that gets to 40, they start to lose their condition, but he found the right way to retire and the right year."

You reconnected with Cabrera on July 29, 2023, when the Tigers played against the Marlins in Miami. What was it like to join him on the field before the game and throw the first pitch?

"I was so happy to hug him and tell him how great he is. 'You're special to me,' that's what I told him. He is from my hometown. He is from the town that I grew up and played baseball in. He looked up to me, and I hope a lot of players look up to him. I hope we keep making some big-league players from this town, Maracay estado Aragua. Remember that, remember that."

Where does Cabrera rank among Venezuelan players?

"He is the greatest baseball player of the Venezuelan country. There's no doubt about it. It's not easy to get to 3,000 hits and 500 home runs and 1,800 RBIs, and so many doubles. It's not easy. He is a Hall of Famer, no doubt. The first year he's in the vote, he's going to make it."

Do you think Ronald Acuña Jr. will break Cabrera's Venezuelan records?

"You got to play games. You got to play baseball. You never know if you're going to have a long career. Miguel Cabrera had a long career; (Acuña) just started in the big leagues. This is the sixth year he has been in the league. He is still a long ways away. You can't say he's going to do as well as Miguel Cabrera did. You got to let him play. Maybe after his 14th year or 15th year, you might say he's going to break some of Miguel Cabrera's records, but remember, when you hit 40 home runs and steal 70 bases, the pitchers are going to pitch you differently next year. He has to play a long, long, long time for me to say he's going to break records. He has the potential to do a lot of things, but we have to wait."

When did you know Cabrera would be a Hall of Fame player?

"I knew about 10 years ago (in 2013). I said, 'If he keeps playing like that, he's going to get to 3,000 hits and 500 home runs.' He did it. He had the potential to do it when he had 10 years in the big leagues. Everybody that saw him 10 years ago would say the same thing. In five years, he will be in the Hall of Fame."

Tough question, but where does Cabrera rank among all position players in baseball history?

"He's got to be in the top five, no doubt. Ted Williams, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Albert Pujols. Miguel has the batting average. (His batting average was .315 before the 2020-23 seasons.) It's not easy to hit .300 and have 3,000 hits and 500 home runs. Yeah, he's got to be in the top five."

How do you feel about Cabrera ending his career?

"I'm very happy for him, very happy. From my heart, I am happy."

Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Miguel Cabrera 'the greatest baseball player of the Venezuelan country'