Miguel Cabrera hit his 400th home run over the weekend, and that milestone was more than just another round number.
Cabrera also took over the career lead in major league home runs by players born in Venezuela, moving one ahead of Andres Galarraga. In fact, Cabrera has now hit more homers than any other native of South America.
The record holder among players born in Asia is Japan's Hideki Matsui, who hit 175. South Korea's Shin-soo Choo may be able to catch Matsui at some point. He's at 123.
As for players born in Europe, that's a trickier question. Bobby Thomson of Shot Heard `Round the World fame hit 264 home runs. That puts the Glasgow, Scotland native at No. 1 - unless we count Andruw Jones, who hit 434.
Jones was born on the Caribbean island of Curacao, which is part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. For what it's worth, the International Baseball Federation includes Curacao in its rankings as part of the Americas. Jones has played for the Netherlands at the World Baseball Classic.
Here's a look at a few other home run races by country - special thanks to STATS for help with the research:
Dominican Republic: Sammy Sosa hit 609, making him the career leader in homers among players born outside the United States. Albert Pujols (526) may surpass his countryman eventually.
Canada: Larry Walker is the leader at 383. Justin Morneau (241) is No. 1 among active players.
Cuba: Rafael Palmeiro tops the list with 569, and active leader Kendrys Morales (114) is well behind. Jose Abreu and Yoenis Cespedes probably didn't come to the majors at a young enough age to threaten Palmeiro, but if Cuban sluggers are able to start playing in the U.S. earlier in their careers, who knows?
Mexico: Vinny Castilla (320) is the record holder, and the active leader is actually pitcher Yovani Gallardo, who has hit 12.
Puerto Rico: Carlos Delgado (473) has the lead, with Carlos Beltran (375) probably too far behind to catch him.
Other leaders of note include Carlos Lee (358) of Panama and Chili Davis (350) of Jamaica. And the career leader in home runs by a player born in France? That's none other than San Francisco Giants manager Bruce Bochy, with 26.
