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Alcohol Gives Tigers' Miguel Cabrera Remorse and a Little Redemption
by Nadya Vlassoff
The Major League Baseball playoffs officially
began on Wednesday with stellar pitching performances
from the Philadelphia Phillies’ Cliff Lee and
the Yankees’ C.C. Sabathia. It was a routine win
for the New York Yankee as the Bronx Bombers took
advantage of their ace, Sabathia, and the powerful
bats of their line-up, which included 2 RBIs from
Alex Rodriguez and home-run help from Hideki Matsui
against the Minnesota Twins. However, it might
have easily been the Detroit Tigers who could
have been pummelled 7-2 by the Yankees if the
Tigers had been able to hang onto their AL central
lead.
The steady decline in Detroit’s 7-game lead at the start of September was a team effort, no doubt, or perhaps more of a lack of effort. Either way, as the lead slipped away, so did Miguel Cabrera’s apparent respect for his own chances at a MLB playoff spot. It was do or die for the Tigers and Cabrera was just one of many players who could not continue last year's post season success.
After Saturday morning’s incident where police took Miguel Cabrera into custody over a domestic altercation with his wife, Cabrera made a public apology to his team and fans. At the time of his arrest, Cabrera registered a .26 alcohol level. He went 0-4 and continued a slump that tallied 0-14 at bats until Tuesday’s game. For over a week everyone on the Tigers’ side kept their hopes up about their number. All they needed was one more win, one more victory to put the doubters to rest and ensure that they would make it to the postseason for two consecutive years. Alas, the little team that could only a year before could not this year as they watched their sure-thing go up in a puff of smoke. The illusion could only last for so long. Maybe Ned Colleti should be on Cabrera’s side because Tuesday night’s loss was not Miguel’s fault. He did what he got paid over $14 million to do.
Last Saturday, even Tiger’s manager Jim Leyland said, "If we can’t win, shame on us. That’s the way it is." Perhaps Leyland took a page out of Zeljko Krajan’s book on how to coach. Still, despite the lack of apparent support from their manager, Miguel Cabrera should have known better than to get drunk the night before an important game. After his arrest, none other than his own GM, Dave Dombrowski, picked up Cabrera from the police station. Detroit’s GM said he was upset but it was not the first time he had to make the drive to go pick up a detained player.
Perhaps the Twins themselves can chalk up their game 1 loss to alcohol as well giving Miguel Cabrera a moment of vindication. Miguel Cabrera stranded 6 runners on base on Saturday but had a more successful game on Tuesday night. With a double and homerun, even the Twins fans could not deter Cabrera with chants of "alcoholic". Who wants to bet that half those fans had a glass of beer in hand as they heckled Cabrera?
The final game between the Twins and the Tigers came down to the wire and was almost like a playoff game. There was so much more on the line than just the credibility of one player. It was the tenacity of a tired Twins offense that featured two of the best hitters in the MLB with Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau that ultimately clinched the final AL playoff berth. It took 12 innings and a laser throw from Twins’ second baseman, Nick Punto to get Cabrera out at home after he walked in the final inning.
Now that his season is over, Cabrera and Dombrowski will have plenty of time to go over the situation but Dombrowski has already stated that there will be no punishment thus far. The Tigers already lost the play-offs and, unlike the NFL, which is ripe with infractions with the law, Cabrera’s only crime was that of a domestic nature. Granted that should not excuse him from any sort of punishment if his wife wishes to press charges but as for his baseball worth, Cabrera is still an extremely talented player. Detroit already signed him to a $152 million contract and this inebriated infraction has no merit on that contract unless there was some sort of clause.
Every team has their own rules on how to address ethical behaviour on and off the field and there will be plenty of time for Cabrera to regroup before next year’s spring training begins. For now, Cabrera and the rest of his team will no doubt be watching to see if New York will continue their domination over the Minnesota Twins. The Yankees are 8-0 so far this year over the Twins and after Wednesday’s romp; the men in pinstripes have shown no signs of slowing down as they continue their quest for another World Series title.
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