20 years after being a member of the 1995 McNamara Division champion Vermont Expos, former Major League shortstop Orlando Cabrera returns to historic Centennial to be honored on Saturday, August 29th as the Vermont Lake Monsters take on the Tri-City Valley Cats at 6:05 pm.
The 15-year Major League veteran, 2001 Gold Glove winner and member of the 2004 World Champion Boston Red Sox, Cabrera will be on hand at Centennial Field to meet fans and sign autographs beginning at 5:00 pm on the main stadium concourse when the gates open.
He will take a short break to head out onto the field to throw out the ceremonial first pitch, accompanied by his 1995 host family Ann and Paul Norwood, then head back to sign more autographs once the game begins at 6:05 pm.
Cabrera hit .272 with 123 home runs and 854 RBI in 1,985 career games with nine different Major League teams. Cabrera spent his first eight seasons with the Montreal Expos, before being traded to Boston as part of a three-team deal, that also sent Nomar Garciaparra to the Chicago Cubs. His 2,055 Major League hits are the most-ever by a former Vermont Expos/Lake Monsters player.
With Vermont in 1995, Cabrera hit .282 (70-for-248) with 37 runs. 12 doubles, five triples, three homers, 33 RBI and 15 stolen bases in 65 games for an Expos team that won the first of their two-straight McNamara Division titles and lost to the Watertown Indians in the New York-Penn League Championship Series.
Saturday the 29th is the final game of a three-game series at Centennial as the Lake Monsters host Tri-City on Thursday, August 27th (mini-bat giveaway) and Friday, August 28th (Halloween at the ballpark).