Mike Trout, the Los Angeles Angels' 21-year-old superstar, has been putting up numbers reminiscent of times, and players, long since passed. There are few other players in Major League Baseball who elicit as much recognition in the Most Valuable Player conversation. If there was, however, any room remaining in the race for American League MVP, the Detroit Tigers' third baseman, Miguel Cabrera, has nudged his way into it.
Cabrera began the year hitting .324 with 18 homeruns and 71 RBI. Since the All-Star break, Cabrera has blasted 11 homeruns and totaled 24 RBI in the last 24 games. On the season, he currently ranks fourth in the American League in hits (142) and second in homeruns (29) and batting average (.326). His 95 RBI leads the league and, at this clip, he shows no sign of slowing down.
Now on a season-high six game winning streak, and having won 10-straight at home, the Tigers have tallied 37 runs, behind the bat of Cabrera. The dominating slugger has been responsible for 6 runs scored and 11 RBI, giving teams like the New York Yankees an unquestioned nightmare to deal with at the plate.
His heroics haven't been all in the statistic columns, either. In the Sunday, August 4 contest with the Cleveland Indians, "Cabby" hit a remarkable walkoff homerun in the 10th inning to seal an 8-10 victory. Showing gracious humility and humbleness, Cabrera chose to take Tigers' center fielder Austin Jackson to the postgame interview, acknowledging his contribution to the team's victory.
Cabrera has finished fifth, second and fourth in MVP voting, over the past three seasons. He was snubbed in 2010 as the Texas Rangers' Josh Hamilton took the award, based on his publicized battle with drug and alcohol addiction, despite Cabrera having 6 more homeruns, 26 more RBI and scored 6 more runs. It's no question that he is due for the recognition.
A seven-time All-Star, Cabrera has performed at the highest level imaginable for the entire duration of his career in the major leagues. His longevity of esteemed play should factor in to his garnering the award in 2012. Though the media has set their sights on the crowning of Mike Trout, Detroit, and its fan base, know that there is one man who is more deserving of the award. He is Miguel Cabrera.
The author, D. Benjamin Satkowiak, is a successful entrepreneur and published, freelance author, who has tailored works on various sports, health and fitness topics. He currently serves as a Yahoo! Contributor Network "Featured Contributor" and writes on the Detroit Tigers, Detroit Lions, Great Lakes Loons and Notre Dame football
