A. Cabrera sets Venezuelan record with 21st HR
Former D-backs player breaks 33-year-old mark with four games left in season
Alex Cabrera's Major League career was short-lived, but his current stint in the Venezuelan Winter League has been a successful one.
Cabrera broke the league's 33-year-old record for most home runs in a season on Sunday in his 57th game, smacking No. 21 for Tiburones de La Guaira in their 4-3 win over Caribes de Anzoategui. The grand slam to left field broke former big league catcher Bo Diaz's 1980 mark, according to the Associated Press.
Cabrera, who turns 42 on Tuesday, played 31 games as a first baseman and outfielder for the D-backs in 2000, hitting .263/.299/.500 with five home runs. He then left for Japan, clubbing 357 home runs for three teams from '01-'12.
With four games left on La Guaira's regular-season schedule, Cabrera is on pace to become the league's first Triple Crown winner. He is leading the league in homers with a .396 batting average and 58 RBIs.
Before Sunday, Cabrera hadn't homered in any of his past seven games. But Cabrera told the AP that his wife arrived in Venezuela from the United States on Sunday and helped him set the record.
"She gave me a kiss before the game and wished me luck," he said. "I think that's what calmed me down."