Miguel Cabrera is head and shoulders above just
about every hitter in baseball right now and what he is doing now is the stuff
of legend. In fact I may even go as far as saying that he is the Michael Jordan
of baseball as far as individual talent and accolades go. Now as we know
Cabrera captured the 1st Triple Crown since 1967 last season but he
has a chance to become the first player to ever capture back to back triple
crowns this year.
Think about that for a second, in the 100+ years of
baseball no player has ever dominated at such a level to where they lead the
league in batting average, home runs and
RBI’s in consecutive seasons. That speaks volumes to the hitter Cabrera is that
he even has the opportunity to do something like this. I have always said even
dating back to his Marlins days that Miguel Cabrera was the purest, most
complete hitter in baseball. As soon as he matured he began to prove me right
and has shown who he is at his zenith. We are witnessing greatness and for all
the negativity surrounding the game with performance enhancing drugs, I think
more attention needs to be paid to the positivity he represents in the game
right now.
He still
needs to catch Baltimore Orioles slugger Chris Davis who has 47 home runs, if he
can do that Cabrera could have arguably the greatest triple crown season in the
history of baseball. Its going to be a tough task catching Davis who seemingly
seems to hit a home run every time Miguel inches a bit closer but keep in mind
its only 4 home runs and we know how quickly Miggy can get hot. The next month
will make for some exciting baseball seeing Cabrera trying to make history.
Like I said earlier Cabrera could arguably the
greatest season ever by a triple crown winner ever. People who are educated on
the history of the award and the stats of some of the winners like Lou Gehrig
Or Jimmie Foxx might see that as blasphemy but just here me out. Take a look at
the stats below from 2 of the greatest Triple Crown seasons ever.
Jimmie
Foxx 1933 356./48 HR/163 RBI
Lou
Gehrig 1934 363./49 HR/165 RBI
Flat out gaudy numbers that will be hard to touch,
even for a guy like Miguel Cabrera but lets take a look of Cabrera’s numbers as
of August 31st.
(As
of August 31st 2013)
Miguel
Cabrera 2013 359./43 HR/130
RBI
Now as we look at those stats right now it looks similar
to Gehrig and Foxx (excluding RBI’s). The 2 greatest triple crown seasons are
in the same category as Cabrera. No disrespect to the era that those guys
played in but pitching in this era is on an entirely different level then those
guys saw. Velocity is higher, pitchers change speeds more efficiently and there
are more teams around the league so he isn’t as familiar with all the pitchers
in the league to the degree that Gehrig and Foxx were.
Now I have done some math and have calculated based
on monthly averages what Cabrera final stat line will look like at the end of
this season. Let me break it down 1st Cabrera Averages 21 RBI’s 8
Homeruns,35 Hits and 97 at bats per month after you add up all his totals from
previous months and divide. If you add that to his current total this is what
his final stat line in 2013 will look like.
(
Final Stat line For 2013)
Miguel
Cabrera 2013 362./51 HR/151 RBI’s
So as we look at that and compare it to Gehrig and
Foxx he hits for a higher batting average than them as well as hit more
homeruns than them. Granted there are many variables that play a role in the
final outcome such the execution of his monthly averages and his health.
Regardless of whether he wins the Triple Crown or not, if he finishes with a
stat total that looks like that it cements his place as the greatest hitter of
the generation. If he actually catches Chris Davis in homeruns this month and
wins the Triple Crown then that’s just a bonus.
We are watching history in the making and if you are
a hardcore baseball fan you can look at his season with the proper perspective.
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