Mighty Miggy: Tigers 4, Royals 2

by Ian Casselberry on Sep 1, 2008 9:00 AM EDT in Detroit Tigers News

Sometimes, a team needs its superstar to go out and win the game. Unfortunately, Detroit Tigers fans have seen that kind of performance far too often from the other team this year, from the likes of Melvin Mora, Jermaine Dye, Kelly Shoppach, and Billy Butler. Neither of those players are considered superstars, per se, but in too many games this season, they were allowed to beat the Tigers almost single-handedly.

At the same time, the Tigers have rarely seen one of their own players assert himself over a game like that. Maybe it's because they spent many of the past 130+ games trying to figure out exactly who could fulfill that role on their roster. And it's too late now to make a difference, in terms of the playoff race. But Miguel Cabrera appears increasingly comfortable with being that kind of star player for the Tigers. And yesterday, with a two-run homer and two-run double, he almost beat the Royals by himself.

(Armando Galarraga's performance shouldn't be overlooked, of course. Two runs over seven innings should've been enough to earn a win. If only his lineup had scored a bit earlier in the game.)

Maybe we shouldn't call Cabrera a "superstar" quite yet. Jim Leyland thinks he still has some work to do in maintaining focus for every at-bat. (And did anyone else catch Pat Caputo calling Cabrera a "statistics hound" last night on FOX2 Sportsworks?) It hasn't been a perfect, MVP-type of season for Cabrera. But with each game remaining on the schedule, he's looking more and more like the player he was expected to be, making that trade look even better. It's one thing still worth watching over the remaining month of this season.

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Caputo

I didn’t hear that from Caputo, but I’ve heard some of his baseball thoughts on the radio and they have tended to be…how should I put this….awful.

by mattintoledo on Sep 1, 2008 9:57 AM EDT reply actions

I caught Caputo on FOX 2 as well...

There’s a reason he writes for the small time Oakland Press, and not one of the big dailies or web sites. It was a moronic thing to say. Typical misinformation from a so-called baseball “expert.” It’s hard to believe Caputo used to do the Detroit prospect write ups for “Baseball America.”

As for Miggy, he’s ONLY 25 years old. He’s going to get better. Not that he’s a slouch right now, being on track for 30+ HR’s and 115-120 RBI. Despite his awful start, which should have been expected when changing leagues, Cabrera is having a very good season.

waynefontes.com

by BigAl on Sep 1, 2008 11:05 AM EDT reply actions

Caputo...

is a hockey guy trying to talk about other sports. Most of the writers/opinion guys who do not follow baseball every day usually expose themselves as not knowing much every now and then. No one is worse than Rob Parker, but Pat is pretty bad.

As long as Miggy stays healthy, he will scare AL pitchers for a long, long time. Baseball players are all stat hounds to an extent, but I am sure Pat’s reaction was to Miggy’s pride in 100 RBI for 5 straight years. Media types will jump on that as being “selfish” during a bad season. It is a really easy article to write. Hitting is something of an individual activity within a team game. Nothing wrong with someone being proud of being a run producer, unless he goes to Frank Thomas level obsession with that at the expense of playing winning baseball.

Miggy’s quotes yesterday about feeling responsible for driving in the winning runs are evidence that the kid wants to be a winner.

by rook34 on Sep 1, 2008 12:17 PM EDT reply actions