Miguel Cabrera is trying to do what no baseball player has done for 45 years, but he’s already shown something his grey-haired manager hasn’t seen during an even longer stretch.
Cabrera’s bid to win baseball’s first Triple Crown since Boston’s Carl Yastrzemski in 1967 is keying the Detroit Tigers’ late-season surge toward a Central Division title they were supposed to win all along. And if you ask Jim Leyland why his third baseman has a chance to lead the American League in batting average, home runs and RBIs, he’ll tell you it’s not just because Cabrera is hitting everything; it’s that he can hit it everywhere.
"I’ve never seen anybody hit the ball to opposite field like him in 49 years of baseball and I doubt anyone else has," the Tigers’ 67-year-old skipper said. "They might say they have, but they probably haven’t. I’ve never seen anything like the opposite field power he has — nobody even close."
That effusive praise speaks directly to how complete and unique Cabrera’s approach at the plate is. It’s easy to look at the 29-year-old and attribute the source of his strength to a six-foot-four, 240-pound frame and, certainly, Cabrera’s natural heft has helped him drive in a league-leading 133 RBIs and knock 42 homers, one behind Major League leader Josh Hamilton of Texas.
But if you’re looking for the burly guy in the Tigers lineup who goes up there like he’s swinging for his supper every time, just peak at the on-deck circle when Cabrera is at the plate. Prince Fielder, the Tigers’ clean-up hitter, has one of those violent swats that you see in the movies when somebody is trying to break a pool cue over another guy’s back. That makes Detroit’s 3-4 hitters a perfect paradox as Cabrera, by contrast, has the fluidity of a maestro.
"He has great elasticity in his swing," Leyland said. "Sometimes you see bigger guys, they just overpower the ball and they get enough of it to get it over the fence. This guy’s swing is like a windshield wiper, it’s just so smooth."
There’s always a special place in baseball lore reserved for players who can hit for power and average. Cabrera’s home run and RBI totals this season already represent career highs and his .326 batting average — he leads Minnesota’s Joe Mauer by three points for tops in the A.L. — is just north of his .318 lifetime mark.
Even if he wins the Triple Crown, Cabrera might still lose out to Los Angeles Angels rookie Mike Trout for A.L. MVP honours because the latter, in addition to being a threat at the plate, steals bases and plays a sparkling centre field. Trout’s all-around contributions are a legit facet of the MVP debate, but when it comes to pure plate presence, everybody in baseball stands in Cabrera’s silky shadow.