If you didn’t know who Miguel Cabrera was, and you asked him what he did for a living, his staunch response would obviously be: professional athlete. Your response would probably be, “bowler, Lucha Libre wrestler, competitive eater, possibly?”
He enjoys this distinction with the likes of Brian Scalabrine or John Daly as guys who don’t necessarily fit the perception of their job description.
Cabrera is the anomaly of anomalies. Baseball players aren’t usually associated with a reputation for being the most cut humans, but that’s not why Cabrera is so different from everyone else.
Common knowledge teaches us that nobody is simply born good at anything. Miguel Cabrera may possibly be the exception to this rule.
I would not be surprised if Cabrera had a chromosome in his DNA that specifically coded for the ability to mash.
The thing that separates Cabrera from other hitters in the Majors is that he possesses that rare, contact/power hitter distinction. He enjoys this skill with the likes of Albert Pujols and Justin Morneau, this year as Cabrera has recently been flirting with an in-progress Triple Crown.
Now I know what you’re thinking. The second that any athlete does something even distractingly good, everyone is quick to anoint him something or prematurely award him some type of hardware.
We witnessed this earlier this year when Roy Halladay tossed a brilliant perfect game and everyone was dying to give him the Cy Young award over Ubaldo Jimenez who is having himself one sizable and historic season.
Many people thought Jimenez wouldn’t have that much chance at the award anymore.
Just weeks later, Jimenez is recognized at the front-runner for the award as Doc has fallen off the wagon a bit while Ubaldo has remained scary good.
So back to Cabrera.
This guy is legitimately the greatest hitter in the world right now and he’s only 27 years old – AKA as a baseball player, he’s on the doorstep of his prime. Apparently, he’s supposed to get even better.
Many baseball writers have been quick to “hyperbolize” Cabrera all the way to baseball immortality. And a lot of this is due to the moral comeback that Cabrera is spearheading after his alcohol related problems in 2009.
No member of the media, however, has come as close to the adulation of Miguel Cabrera as his teammate, Johnny Damon.
Damon went as far to say that Cabrera might be the greatest hitter of all time.
That could possibly be an exaggeration but can you blame Damon for being awestruck by the lumbering Cabrera swinging his bat with alien power and precision?
Well maybe a little, but still – Cabrera is starting to come into his own. He is finally beginning to realize that he has been endowed with more than prodigious talents. Now it’s up to him to take advantage.
Ted Williams is widely recognized as the greatest hitter who ever lived. This is largely due to his sheer talent and ceaseless work ethic. His fragmentation of hitting into a science, branded him as quite a nerd-jock.
Cabrera might not end up being the greatest hitter who ever lived, but he could certainly join the discussion if he keeps his newfound determination up. He just has to combine his talents with more hard work. Williams would be a nice model to follow.
When I think of baseball greats to compare him to, Babe Ruth is the kind of guy that comes to mind. This isn’t to say that Cabrera is as good as Ruth, that’s ridiculous to think of right now.
But Ruth was once known for his reckless behavior and for being somewhat more rotund than you would expect a player of his magnitude to be.
If Miguel Cabrera wants to prove that he is deserving of the considerable praise he’s receiving, he can’t afford to leave the rest of his career to chance. He has abnormal talents but this isn’t the first time we’ve seen people flirt with triple crowns.
Cabrera, however, is putting his foot on the pedal at the right time. Anything can happen from here on.
And if Miguel someday ends up reaching his unbelievable potential, then his greatness can be accurately recognized. Other promising hitters, the likes of whom come around once-a-generation, would inevitably be compared favorably to Cabrera.
It’s looking like comparisons to him could end up being quite an exaggeration.
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