Welcome to The Opener, where every weekday morning you’ll get a fresh, topical column to start your day from one of SI.com’s MLB writers.
Simplicity endures. The three greatest legacy hitting milestones are the ones that need no context, explanation or acronym: 500 home runs, 3,000 hits and a .300 batting average. Only two players ever reached all three: Henry Aaron and Willie Mays. Miguel Cabrera is about to join them. Nothing better frames the genius of Cabrera’s hitting than belonging in such elite company.
It has been 51 years since Aaron and Mays recorded their 3,000th hit.