DETROIT

Miguel Cabrera suits up for the FBI

Leonard N. Fleming
The Detroit News

Detroit — Donning an FBI hat, Detroit Tigers star slugger Miguel Cabrera was all smiles. And he even joked that while in the house of the government’s top federal agents, he might even pursue a new career.

Cabrera, Tigers manager Brad Ausmus, second baseman Ian Kinsler all were on hand Friday morning to meet and greet with the Federal Bureau of Investigation staff as part of the “Tailgating with the Detroit Tigers.”

“I learned something new,” Cabrera said to reporters after a Q&A rally with government staff. “I learned how the FBI works. I’m glad to be here. I learned things on how they work inside here. We learned something new today: how they investigate crimes, yeah.”

David Gelios, special agent in charge at the FBI in Detroit, said he was a lifelong Tigers fan growing up in northwest Ohio. Agents gave the Tigers an overview of what they do, a presentation from a firearms expert and “they got to look at some of the weapons that we routinely use.”

“We’re always involved in things that are a little more serious or most frequently, but this is very exciting for our field office because there are so many Detroit Tigers fans here from little kids,” he said. “So to take a little break from more disturbing things we see each and every day and to spend some time as they try and rally some excitement for the upcoming season, we’re glad to be part of that.”

Gelios even joked that if they retire before 37, “we’d be happy to have a conversation with them” about joining the bureau.

When asked how it felt to see Cabrera come in with the FBI hat on, Gelios said: “It’s great. We gave them some stuff, and he very, very quickly put that hat on, and I thought that was pretty cool.”

Ausmus, who said his Little League coach as a kid was an FBI agent, said they learned a lot during the short tour.

“It’s interesting stuff, the type of stuff that I like to see,” he said. “It’s fun to see what they’re capable of doing. Unless you are watching ‘CSI,’ you don’t know anything about.”

lfleming@detroitnews.com

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Twitter: @leonardnfleming