Triple Crown winner, Miguel Cabrera, could be the difference between the teams
Tom Lenihan
American Sports Writer
The San Francisco Giants have never had to travel to Detroit to face the Tigers. The storyline of the blue collar auto-workers facing the Bay Area snobs hasn’t been splashed across a World Series before. It’s not going to be drawn upon now. It’s 2012 and the game has changed. Detroit is still top of statistics for violent crime and San Francisco still repaints the Golden Gate Bridge time after time. However, there’s no one named Bonds slugging homers into Californian waters and their biggest draw for merchandise coming into the season was Brian Wilson, a relief pitcher. Their other ace is Tim Lincecum, “The Freak”, who has had a freakishly sub-par season. Solid pitching won the Giants the World Series in 2010 and they have learned to squeeze results out of low run support.
The Steroid Era is gone and nobody has taken the mantle for generating excitement quite like the way Bonds used to. Melky Cabrera was beginning to restore pride in the batting order as he was on target to win the National League batting title but memories of Bonds resurfaced in the worst possible way. Cabrera tested positive for high levels of testosterone, the product of performance-enhancing drugs. He was suspended in early August for 50 games and thankfully was ruled ineligible for the prestigious batting title and thus couldn’t taint records that his predecessor, Bonds did in his career. It didn’t affect the Giants as they rallied to capture the division title and their catcher, Buster Posey, won the NL batting title in his own right, the first time a National League catcher has led the league in hitting since 1942. It’s been a strange season.
When Bonds was breaking home run records the Detroit Tigers were the worst team in all of baseball. They recovered but have not managed to shake a habit of playing well during the regular season and then coming up short. The Giants have partied the past few years as attendances have finally surpassed the levels from when Bonds was playing. They have a two-time Cy Young award winner and a closer with cult status and rock star appeal. Detroit has a workmanlike Justin Verlander, arguably the most feared pitcher in the league and an equally professional Miguel Cabrera, the best hitter in the game. Add the fun-loving first baseman in Prince Fielder and the pieces have finally come together, as the Tigers look to attain their first World Series win in 28 years. They even swept the Yankees definitively, a rarity in the postseason. Detroit fans feel it’s their time.
Cabrera in particular has exceeded his ever loftier expectations in achieving the baseball Triple Crown in batting, topping his league’s chart in home runs, batting average and runs batted in, a rare feat unmatched since 1967. Cabrera is Venezuelan and is quietly building a Hall of Fame career. He’s a machine and he hasn’t even reached 30. His humility is matched by his counterpart Posey who represents the quintessential anti-Bonds as he deflects any praise from himself and onto his teammates often when they are less deserving. He is becoming the leader of that locker room and he is still only 25. He has won the respect of his veteran teammates, just as MLB legend Derek Jeter did at that young age in New York. If there’s one storyline that should be used by the wider media, it would be two consummate professionals, Cabrera and Posey, in the prime of their youth and what they mean to the game in this as of yet undefined era of baseball.
The two teams have only played each other twelve times since 1997. ‘Moneyball’ fanatics haven’t cropped up to show sabermetric trends as everyone agrees that the 67-year Jim Leyland knows baseball. The Detroit Tigers’ manager has previously won Manager of the Year three times plus a World Series win with the Florida Marlins, the first time in their short franchise history. He learned from the best as Tony La Russa’s third base coach and became a successful scout. One may wonder is this Leyland’s last hurrah? After all La Russa bowed out in glory last year with the Cardinals when they won the World Series as he reached his 68th year. Could the same thing happen again? It’s certainly very tempting to go out on top but Leyland has previously quipped, “My wife doesn’t like me that much. I can’t retire.” His passion is unquestionable and his decision may be shaped by the promise that this Detroit team has the potential to carry on its success. Justin Verlander has sold out stadiums as a pitcher. He’s throwing fastballs as coolly as Clemens did. He may not even be in his prime. It’s a situation that might gift them a World Series. That’s an asset that no manager will want to walk away from.
