page_title: Melky Cabrera
section_title: 2009 season
hierarchical_section_title: Melky Cabrera / Professional career / New York Yankees / 2009 season
caption_attribution_description: Melky Cabrera
context_page_description: Melky Cabrera Astacio, nicknamed The Melkman, is a Dominican professional baseball outfielder who is a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball for the New York Yankees, Atlanta Braves, San Francisco Giants, Toronto Blue Jays, Chicago White Sox, Kansas City Royals, Cleveland Indians, and Pittsburgh Pirates. While primarily a left fielder throughout his career, Cabrera spent a significant amount of his playing time as a center fielder for the Royals and Yankees.
  Cabrera signed with the Yankees as an amateur free agent. He made his MLB debut for the Yankees in 2005. After playing as a fourth outfielder, the Yankees included him in a trade to the Braves after the 2009 season. Struggling with the Braves in 2010, he was released, and signed by the Royals in 2011. Cabrera had a strong year with the Royals, and was traded to the Giants for the 2012 season. In 2012, Cabrera made his first All-Star Game appearance, winning the All-Star Game MVP Award. One month later, Cabrera received a 50-game suspension after testing positive for high levels of testosterone.
context_section_description: After the 2008 season, the Yankees came close to trading Cabrera to the Milwaukee Brewers for veteran outfielder, Mike Cameron. Remaining with the Yankees, Cabrera competed with Brett Gardner for the starting center field job which Gardner won, relegating Cabrera to a backup role by manager Girardi once again. On April 22, however, Cabrera hit the first walk-off hit in the New Yankee Stadium, a 2-run homer in the bottom of the 14th, for a 9–7 Yankee win. By late April, with Gardner slumping and Cabrera's streak of stellar play, Cabrera once again became the starting center fielder. He won the Major League Baseball Clutch Performer of the Month of May.
  On August 2, 2009, he became the first Yankee to hit for the cycle since Tony Fernández did on September 3, 1995. The home run was his 10th of the season, a new personal high. He also collected his 200th career RBI in the game, and finished the season with a .274 batting average, 13 home runs, and 68 RBI in 154 games. The Yankees finished the year with a 103-59 record and eventually won the World Series over the Philadelphia Phillies, giving Cabrera his first championship title and the Yankees their 27th title overall.
caption: Cabrera playing for the Atlanta Braves in 2010
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