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In the wake of Memorial Day, new Kansas City Royals hitting coach George Brett sat before an outfit of reporters at Busch Stadium, controlled rage streaming from his glare.

In what might be one of the most memorable press conferences in recent times, Brett said something any service member would love. 

“Don’t try to be a hero,” the sparkplug Hall of Famer barked at his odorous Royals offense, according to Stan McNeal of USA Today. “Just be a soldier.”

Meantime, 800 miles east in Baltimore City, the once feast-to-famine Orioles now fields a hit brigade of “soldiers” that would make Brett proud.

Fresh off Friday’s thrilling 7-5 walk-off win versus the Detroit Tigers, Baltimore’s lineup sits in the top two in nearly every major league offensive category.

Through 55 games, the Orioles are first in home runs (78), runs (280), RBI (271) and total bases (895). Baltimore is also first in the league in slugging percentage (.464), and OPS (.794).

The Orioles are second to the Detroit Tigers for the league lead in hits (531) and team batting average (.275). Only the Boston Red Sox have more doubles than the 122 the Orioles have mustered.   

More impressively, Baltimore has been able to achieve all this while cutting down on strikeouts (352). Only the Kansas City Royals and the San Francisco Giants have fewer dispatches than Baltimore. The league average for strikeouts at this point in the season is 409, per ESPN.

But wait! It gets better.

The Orioles also have 41 stolen bases this season. The Colorado Rockies lead the league with 44 swipes.

Things get even sweeter for Orioles fans when looking at individual statistics. 

Not only is Chris Davis battling Miguel Cabrera for the Triple Crown, but per ESPN, four of the top 10 MLB leaders in hits are Orioles.

With 79 hits, Manny Machado trails only Cabrera for the league lead. Machado is also fourth in the American League in batting average (.331). Adam Jones is right behind Machado with 74 hits. Tied for seventh place is Nick Markakis. He has 70 hits. Last but not least, Davis is ninth with 68 hits.

Applied to American league hitters alone, four of the top seven hitters are Orioles.

With Nate McClouth nearing .300 again, and Matt Wieters and JJ Hardy starting to heat up, it is hard to imagine the Orioles offense slowing down for long periods of time.

For a team still fighting to get its pitching staff in order, this is great news.

It will be fun to see if the Orioles can continue their prolific stick-handling against the visiting Detroit Tigers.

For a solid showing against the second-best pitching staff in the AL may embolden the Orioles to believe they can hit anyone, anywhere, at any time.

 
James Morisette is the founder and chief editor at the Basebook Baseball Social Network. You can check out Basebook by clicking here.

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On Friday, Basebook Baseball Magazine writer Paul Goode wrote a solid post that begged the question: Has Miguel Cabrera surpassed Albert Pujols as the premier all-round hitter in baseball?

While reading Goode’s feature, I could not help but notice one of Cabrera’s gaudy stats. Through 46 games, Cabrera is batting .388 with 14 homers and a whopping 1.154 OPS.

More striking is Cabrera’s 57 RBI. Per ESPN, Cabrera is on pace for 201 RBI this year.

Already an MVP, batting champion and a Triple Crown winner, Cabrera is on track to have one of the best individual seasons in MLB history. Should Cabrera stay healthy and avoid a few dry spells in the batter’s box, he has a shot (albeit small) to bust Hack Wilson’s major league record for the most RBI in a single season.

According to Baseball Almanac, Wilson posted 191 RBI in 1930. Trailing Wilson is Lou Gehrig, who earned 184 RBI in 1931. Hank Greenberg is third in baseball history with 183 RBI. Greenberg sits eight RBI ahead of Jimmie Foxx (175 RBI).

Wilson’s record has been deemed by many to be one of the most untouchable records in MLB history, alongside Joe DiMaggio’s record 56-game hitting streak. This philosophy rings especially true in the post-steroid era.

Fans who think nobody will ever come close to Wilson’s gaudy RBI record have a valid point. The closest any modern player has come to Wilson’s feat is Manny Ramirez. He earned 165 RBI with the Cleveland Indians in 1999. Alex Rodriguez mustered 156 RBI with the New York Yankees in 2007, also per Baseball Almanac.

But consider this about Cabrera. Last season, the 30-year-old slugger had 139 RBI for the Tigers in 161 games. Yet Cabrera did not get RBI 57 until June 25 versus the Texas Rangers.

Cabrera is nearly a month ahead of schedule this season.

If injury is a concern, Cabrera has been as sturdy as baseball players come. Looking at Cabrera’s career stats, he has not played less than 150 games in a season since his rookie year (2003). From 2004-12, Cabrera has averaged 158 games played on a 162-game schedule.

Of course, all ballplayers endure slowdowns and slumps. Cabrera is no exception (although his slumps pale in comparison to other MLB players).

But should Cabrera maintain his rabid video-game pace, he may come eerily close to breaking Wilson’s seemingly untouchable RBI record.

And if Cabrera does, scientists may have to consider testing him to see if this superstar really is human.  

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Detroit Tigers slugger Miguel Cabrera is one of the most cerebral hitters the game of baseball has ever seen.

A career .320 hitter, Cabrera is a superstar heavyweight boxer, champion chess player and big kid wrapped into a 6’4”, 240-pound frame.

MLB pitchers who stare into the batter’s box at Cabrera know they have to outsmart the Triple Crown winner.  While some pitching staffs do have success against this 30-year-old Venezuela native, most find themselves kicking dirt in disgust. 

This includes staffs from the AL Central Division.  Per Baseball-Reference statistics, Cabrera has batted .320 (463-for-1,445) with 88 home runs, 89 doubles and 293 RBI in 380 career games against teams in this division.

While impressive, Cabrera has given five other teams outside the AL Central absolute fits in his 10-year career.  These victims of Cabrera’s brute wrath (minimum 150 plate appearances), are the subject of this slideshow. 

Source of Stats: Baseball-Reference.com and MLB.com

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