All About Miguel

Last night, Miguel Cabrera won the AL Triple Crown for the first time since 1967 as the Detroit Tigers are headed to the postseason. 

By Jesse Dougherty

The Tigers are heading to the  playoffs for the second straight year, but that’s not the news that will eclipse the baseball headlines in Detroit over the next couple of days. 

When Tigers’s manager Jim Leyland pulled Miguel Cabrera from the game in the fourth-inning in Kansas City Wednesday night, the Kauffman crowd rose to their feet and three numbers took center stage. 

.330, 44, and 139.

(AP Photo/Orlin Wagner)

Despite an 0 for 2 night, Miguel Cabrera captured the sixteenth Triple Crown in Major League Baseball history, and the first since 1967. At Yankee Stadium, Curtis Granderson’s two home runs inched him within one of Cabrera’s mark of 44, but when he was pulled for a pinch hitter Cabrera was left standing alone. 

 “The entire baseball world should be here right now,” said Tigers’ ace Justin Verlander in an ESPN interview shortly after the game Wednesday night. 

Verlander was among the selected few that was on hand to witness history unfold at Kauffman Stadium. For Cabrera himself however, it was just the end to another year, since his Triple Crown stats are nothing out of the ordinary amidst a career of supreme offensive success. In 2011, Cabrera posted an average of .344 with 30 home runs, and 105 RBI's.

Royals outfielder Alex Gordon addressed Cabrera’s unprecedented consistency in an ESPN interview following the game. 

“It’s pretty amazing. Honestly, his numbers are like that every year. He has a great average, great home runs, and great RBI’s. He’s a guy who can pull this off, and it’s great for the game.” 

As a Triple Crown winner, Cabrera joins the likes of Mickey Mantle, Jimmie Foxx, Ted Williams, Frank Robinson, Carl Yastrzemski, and Ty Cobb, a shortlist of baseball immortals. At twenty-nine, Cabrera has already cemented himself in League history, but he can’t stop now. The Triple Crown may be his, but the Tigers begin their World Series quest Saturday at home against the Oakland A’s, a team they should not take lightly. 

As for personal battles, Cabrera and Mike Trout will battle it out for the AL MVP award. Since post season play isn’t factored into the MVP voting process the race between the two concluded Wednesday night, and only time will offer the much anticipated results. Trout had what some may tab as the greatest rookie season of all-time, clubbing 30 home runs, posting a .324 average, and leading the league in both runs scored and stolen bases. 

But with a Triple Crown under his belt, you have to think that Cabrera will cross the finish line ahead of Trout when the time comes. 

When ESPN asked Royals manager Ned Yost about the AL MVP race he said, “I think they’re both fantastic players, tremendous players, both of them. But if Cabrera wins the Triple Crown, he has to be the MVP, absolutely.”

And while Yost watched his team lose 1-0 in the final game of the season Wednesday night, Cabrera did just that. 

With the playoffs approaching and the AL MVP debates picking up steam, let’s use this time to commemorate the remarkable achievement of a remarkable young baseball player. Here’s to Miguel Cabrera, and .330, 44, and 139; three numbers that will never be forgotten.