40-year dash! Vets Miggy, Rich Hill turn on jets for race to 1B

DETROIT — Pheidippides’ run from the battle of Marathon to Athens. Harry Truman’s run by way of the Capitol. Roger Bannister’s four-minute mile. And now, Rich Hill.

Against the Tigers on Wednesday at Comerica Park, the 43-year-old hurler added his identify to the listing of historical past’s unforgettable sprints. With two outs within the second, Miguel Cabrera ripped a tough grounder that first baseman Carlos Santana smothered with a diving cease. After a second of hesitation, Hill took off to cowl first, racing the 40-year-old slugger to the bag.

Hill in the end reached the bottom first to document the put-out and finish the inning, reaching a high velocity of 21.7 ft per second, although Cabrera really outraced him with a season-high 25.3 ft/sec dash velocity.

Hill, Santana and Cabrera have a mixed age of 120.

“I guess you don’t see 40-plus-year-olds race on a Major League field very often,” mentioned Tigers supervisor A.J. Hinch. “So capture that in your memory bank.”

For gamers of such spectacular classic, it is perhaps shocking that Wednesday marked solely the tenth sport between Hill and Cabrera. Their first assembly got here 18 years in the past, when Miggy’s Florida Marlins confronted Hill’s Cubs on June 15, 2005, with Hill pitching in reduction of Greg Maddux. Cabrera ripped a double in that at-bat and usually has had the higher hand of their battles — his 0-for-2 on Wednesday dropped his profession batting common towards Hill to .381.

“He’s going to go down as one of the best players in the history of this game,” Hill mentioned. “Just facing him over the years, I feel grateful to be on the same playing field as a guy like that. It was fun — but I have to get over a little quicker next time.”