Do the fans truly appreciate what Miguel Cabrera is doing? – via freep
by John Saban
My hope is always to evoke productive, logical thoughts from all of my readers. Well, this article will really be some food for thought for you. Who is the best player in the Major Leagues right now? Answers easy, right?
Bryce Harper- No.
Then it has got to be Mike Trout- Still, no.
Okay, it’s a pitcher then-Justin Verlander- No!
Then who? How about Miguel Cabrera! Okay, so maybe you did guess Miggy in your first three guesses, and for that, congrats, but are we currently taking one of the best hitters in the game’s history for granted.
I understand he may not be the most complete player because of his struggles in the field, but at the plate this guy is history on feet!
The 30-year old Venezuelan native is hitting the prime of his hitting career. A hitter, much like any pitcher, hits their “prime time” of knowledge when they become a little older, or we’ll say experienced.
Cabrera won the Triple Crown last year, leading the league in RBI’s, home runs and average with a 139/44/.330 line in 2012. He was the first to capture a Triple Crown since 1967 when Carl Yastrzemski won it in a Red Sox uniform.
Solid, right? Although, scary enough, it was not a fluke. Cabrera was just getting started he picked up in 2013 right where left off. Almost a third of the way through the year he leads the league in runs, hits, RBI’s and batting average. The leader in home runs is Baltimore’s Chris Davis who got off to a hot start, and could throw a wrench into Cabrera’s back-to-back triple crown campaign. Cabrera currently trails Davis by four home runs.
It is a little early to start the campaign for a Cabrera triple crown, but lets be realistic, he’s legit, he’s here and has proven he will not fade away at the end of 162 games.
Cabrera is a career .320 hitter in his 11 seasons in the league. His rookie season he played in 87 games with the Marlins and hit a career low .268. Eight of his eleven years in MLB he hit above .300, which is almost unfathomable. The only hitter of this generation that is comparable to Cabrera is Albert Pujols who is in his thirteenth year in the majors, and has hit .300 in ten of his thirteen years, but has fallen off a little bit as of late, but is still one of the game’s best.
Despite hitting for average Cabrera has 36 home runs and 1182 RBI’s in his career. This also comes in a generation when managers play a game of matchups, and will go to the bullpen to get a pitcher that they find favorable against that hitter, and he is still hitting the cover off the ball.
We will wait until Cabrera’s illustrious career is over to compare him to all-tim greats, but this is to simply make you aware, and help you pay attention to the modern day greatness that is Miguel Cabrera. I promise, one day, you will be able to say “Son, I watched him play”.
