- The Washington Times - Thursday, March 22, 2018

In a profile story by Bleacher Report, Detroit Tigers first baseman Miguel Cabrera claimed he does not know most of his teammates’ names and covers for it by calling everyone “bro.”

Cabrera, 35, is entering his 16th year in the majors and his 11th in Detroit. The two-time AL MVP and 11-time All-Star is on a rebuilding Tigers team with little hope for a postseason run in 2018.

Cabrera has not learned the names of many of the new faces in their clubhouse, but that is not unique to 2018, he said.

“I’ve been here for 10 years and most of my teammates, I don’t even know their names,” Cabrera said. “Even in the old days. You can ask any player if I know every name and he’ll say no.”

When asked what he calls people instead, Cabrera said, “I say, ’Hey, bro. What’s up, bro?’”

His former teammate in Detroit, Torii Hunter, confirmed this.

“His favorite word was ’bro,’” Hunter says. “Bro, bro. And then he’d go to another guy. Bro, bro.

Perhaps the veteran Cabrera, likely a future Hall of Famer, has earned the right to be relaxed on that etiquette. Even at 34 years old last season, he always batted third or fourth in the lineup and contributed 16 home runs and 60 RBI to a last-place team.

• Adam Zielonka can be reached at azielonka@washingtontimes.com.

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