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Miguel Cabrera’s Triple Crown Accomplishment

13 Oct

 

When New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees recently broke John Unitas’ record of throwing touchdown passes in 47 consecutive games, the achievement was compared to someone breaking baseball’s supposed “unbreakable” mark – Joe DiMaggio’s 56 game hitting streak. I personally believe DiMaggio’s record is more impressive, considering the day-to-day grind of a long season that baseball players endure. When Detroit’s Miguel Cabrera finished the 2012 regular season by becoming the first player in 45 years to win baseball’s “Triple Crown” by leading his league in home runs, batting average and runs batted in, it was at least as big an accomplishment as Brees’ record. He is only the 10th player in modern major league history to accomplish the feat (Rogers Hornsby and Ted Williams each did it twice). It took 45 years for a player to win it, amazing considering all the talk of “five tool” all-around players in baseball these days. When Carl Yastrzemski did it in 1967 for the Boston Red Sox, it was the eleventh time it had been done in the 45 years prior to ’67. In fact, Frank Robinson had done it the previous year, in 1966. You would think that leading the American League in those 3 major offensive categories would be an automatic ticket to winning the league’s MVP Award, but the Los Angeles Angels’ young star, Mike Trout, is actually getting more MVP buzz from the press. Cabrera has quietly put together a terrific major league career, establishing himself as one of the game’s top players, let alone one of its’ top hitters. The Triple Crown is icing on the cake, putting him in the company of these other players who’ve done it – Hornsby, Williams, Robinson, Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx and Mickey Mantle. That’s pretty good company, and if Cabrera tops it off by leading his Detroit Tigers to a World Series championship, his 2012 season would go down in baseball history as one of the greatest individual efforts of all time in the sport.

 
1 Comment

Posted in Baseball

 
  1. Cameron Adcock

    January 9, 2013 at 1:18 pm

    i always admire baseball players because i love baseball so much.,