Baseball fans delight as longtime veterans Rich Hill and Miguel Cabrera race to first base on infield grounder: "Time that with a sundial"
Rich Hill just beat out Miguel Cabrera in a race to first base on Wednesday afternoon.
Cabrera, the Detroit Tigers 40-year-old designated hitter, hit an infield grounder to Pittsburgh Pirates first baseman Carlos Santana. Quintana had to dive to his right and thus was far off the bag, so Hill, the 43-year-old Pirates starting pitcher, leapt into action.
Both players started from approximately the same distance from the bag, as the world's slowest 90-foot dash was on. Both players trundled toward the bag as Santana sat kneeling with a can of soda and reading a book, patiently waiting to make the throw.
Miggy vs. Rich Hill: race to the bag!
And the winner is ... 👀 https://t.co/ikOmvZiyBS
In the end, it was Rich Hill by a toe. Hill eventually made it close enough to first base to take the throw from Castro and step on the bag just before Miguel Cabrera.
After the spectacle of 83 years of combined humanity "sprinting" for first base was concluded, both players turned to one another with respect. There was no laughter, as both players were clearly too exhausted from their ordeal.
@MLB You can time that with a sundial.
@MLB I feel like this needs the Chariots of Fire theme over top of it... https://t.co/hub1pycaaC
@MLB Looking at each other like “damn we’re old” lmao
Rich Hill, born in 1980, turned 43 on March 11. First drafted last century by the Cincinnati Reds, he attended the University of Michigan. Selected for a third time in the MLB Draft by the Chicago Cubs in 2002, he played his first major-league game for the Cubs in 2005.
Nineteen years later, Rich Hill has played for 12 different big-league teams. Appearing in 358 games and starting 229 of them, Hill somehow still has a mild win/loss record of 85-62 over that time.
Heading into Wednesday's game, he has faced 5,460 MLB hitters. Hill has a lifetime ERA of 3.86 with 1,330 strikeouts in 1,300 innings pitched.
@MLB 83 years of existence in this race.
@MLB A race to see who retires first
@MLB Looks like the Turtle races I’ve been too
Miguel Cabrera has a rather more boastful MLB resume. He entered the league in 2003 with the Florida (now Miami) Marlins as a 20-year-old outfielder. Cabrera played five seasons with the Marlins, who were still wearing their now-"throwback" uniforms, until he was traded to the Tigers after the 2007 season.
Miguel Cabrera packed on the pounds as he tacked on the home runs. One of the most feared hitters in the league from 2010-2016, he won the Triple Crown in 2012 with 44 home runs, 139 RBI and a .330 batting average.
Cabrera is set to retire at the end of this season, his 21st in MLB. In that time, he has won two Most Valuable Player awards, appeared in 12 All-Star games, and won four batting titles.
@MLB @Laursen011 dinosaur racing in MLB what a time to be alive.
@MLB Love to see it
@MLB Speed demons😈
Not to mention that Miguel Cabrera also won a World Series championship, all the way back in his rookie season of 2003. Sadly, though Rich Hill has been to a few World Series, he is still ring-less.
@MLB https://t.co/4AHTBXTOLl
Rich Hill and Miguel Cabrera, two for the ages
Hill entered Wednesday at 3-3 on the season, sporting a 4.35 ERA. Cabrera came into Wednesday's contest batting just .189 with zero home runs.