Too often we jump to conclusions in today's sports world. I think we're too quick to crown the best team or best player; we're too fast to label "the next best" in whatever we see (see Golden State head coach Mark Jackson). Maybe it's because we want to be part of an era where we can actually say we saw the best. A lot of people today can't say they saw Willie Mays or Ted Williams or Hank Aaron or Babe Ruth or Ty Cobb so we want to brag that we witnessed the best ever.
I am not one of those people, so when I suggest that Miguel Cabrera is the best hitter I've ever seen, I say it with great respect and appreciation for the hitters I've been fortunate to watch over my lifetime. Guys like George Brett, Pete Rose, Tony Gwynn, Rod Carew, Paul Molitor and Wade Boggs. I have never seen a guy who hits so well to all fields with so much power. I've never watched a guy "square the ball so well" consistently. I can't imagine trying to develop a game plan to get him out. He's hitting .402 against fastballs, .299 with two strikes on him (the league average is .194); he just passed the great Hank Greenberg on the all time home runs list; and he has a legitimate chance to join Rogers Hornsby (1922, 1925) and Ted Williams (1942, 1947) as the only players to win multiple triple crowns.
Last year, after 42 games, Cabrera had a line of .304/.362/.488 with eight home runs and 34 RBIs. This year, after the same number of games, he’s hitting .387/.457/.659 with 11 home runs and 47 RBIs and is only one home run away from sitting atop all three categories. He leads the MAJORS in batting average and RBIs as well as in OPS, OPS+, total bases and hits and also leads the AL in runs scored. Alex Avila called Cabrera, "our era's Ted Williams." That's how good he is. He's also one of just 15 players ever to hit 330 homers before his 31st birthday.
The Tigers hitting history is rich with guys like Cobb, Greenberg, Heillman, Crawford, Kaline and Trammell, but of those players that I ever saw play, no one does the things that Miguel Cabrera can do. I hope we in Detroit are appreciating his skills and talents because there have been too many times where we've envied other baseball markets for their superstars and now the table is reversed and everyone else wishes they had ours. Feels good doesn't it.
