You get fired anywhere else for what he did.

I understand he’s only 26 and under a lot of pressure, and that some of the guys probably go out and party excessively all the time without us hearing about it. But couldn’t he have done this on a night before a day off? I feel very let down, and will be very angry if he doesn’t release some sort of apologetic statement BEFORE the tiebreaker game. I have no opinion on whether he should play tomorrow or in the playoffs if we make; we need him, yet he’s slumping. He’ll get booed, but he could come through. So I don’t know what to say there.

Regardless, he’s supposed to be one of our stars, the team and the fans deserve better from him.

Otherwise his idiotic actions punish his entire team. College ball would be one thing, but in this situation I think he has to play. Sitting him does nothing but diminish the teams already precarious chances to near zero.

First and foremost, even with an exceptional Miguel Cabrera day, we don’t win Saturday. He would have needed an improbable day at the plate to have 5 RBI.

With that said, I’m interested to read everyone’s opinion on the matter. There will be no truthful, universally accepted perspective on what is a just and reasonable response.

Provided there is a public statement of contrition and realization of incredible irresponsibility, I will move on. Kicking Cabrera while he is down is counter-productive to all. His hard work in the off-season and production through 160 games should not be ignored, and they will be needed Tuesday and beyond.

Lastly, he broke no laws, so his personal business should not be ours. So I hope this conversation doesn’t devolve into speculating what happened inside his home.

I’ve tried to post several comments about this story today, but the more I start to type, the more I think, the more I become enraged, and the more my comments turn in to a rant. I will leave it with this for now:
I am “disappointed” when I come home after work to find my dog has left a “suprise” for me on the living room floor. THIS, just flat out pisses me off!

that’s ridiculous

what would you be saying today if Miggy went 4-for-4 with 2 HR on Saturday?

I am trying to wrap my mind around this and it’s just not happening. Trying to give Cabrera the benefit of the doubt, not because he’s a Professional Baseball Player but because he Is human, just like all of us. But, as has been said here already, just like all of us he has responsibilities and when his off hour activities affect his work, then that’s when it’s no longer just a personal matter.

I don’t think the Tigers organization could have said anything more than it did because there are pretty strict rules that cover confidentiality in personnel issues. It had to come from Cabrera himself, and let’s face it — before the game on Sunday, with a bunch of reporters in the locker room was not a time and place to address the issue.

 I can only imagine the reaction he’s going to get at the Metrodome, so he needs to prepare himself for that. It may indeed be better for the team AND him to set him out for the game.

Cabrera can redeem himself. People are forgiving and unless this is revealed to be a pattern, then he can get back in the good graces of the fans. He needs to hombre up, issue an apology to his team mates and the fans. And then he needs to make a significant donation to the Nick Adenhart Memorial Fund.

But for the sake of agruing I will keep it to myself. I did listen to the 911 call and one of the final comments is “has he done this to you before” reply: “no”.

It’s a whole different culture, entirely.

was 12 hours enough time for him to sober up? Was he hungover when he was playing? Did he reek of alcohol when people were questioning him about his scratches?

I’m not absolving him of anything, but I’m not disappointed because I refuse to put professional athletes on any kind of pedestal. Yes they are public figures, but to me that makes it worse than your regular Joe. They’ve got the money to be dumb.

If he showed up to the game impaired he should apologize to the fans. But the releasing of the 911 call (when the police department said they were BOTH aggressors) and the invasion of this personal in-home matter just REEKS of TMZ and this celebrity crazed society.

It’s extremely disappointing to imagine our franchise player obliterated the night before a crucial game topped off with a fight between him and his wife. I really hope that this isn’t just a sampling of a larger substance abuse and/or domestic problem. If so, Dombrowski and the rest of the organization need to address and remedy this situation immediately; for Cabrera’s sake, his family’s sake, and the Tigers’ sake. This situation is very much in the public sphere now and although we as fans should not necessarily be privy to the internal dealings of the entire affair, a confirmation from management that this is being handled seriously along with an appropriately-timed apology from Cabrera to his family, his team, management, and the fans would certainly be in order.

I’m willing to bet if Cabrera handles this situation the right way from here on out that the majority of fans will ultimately forgive him. I’d be ready to.

He KNEW what he was doing. And if Freddy Garcia was involved, why didn’t he pitch like shit, he won Saturday’s game!!

…but at this point, I’m inclinced to mostly agree with StringTheory and ChrisDTX.

Cabrera did an incredibly, INCREDIBLY stupid thing and picked a really bad time to do it. It’s embarrassing and disappointing, no doubt, and the Tigers have every right to be royally pissed off at him. But this is also a guy who, from what we’ve seen, has worked very hard and has carried this team, and this is the first time we’ve heard of something like this happening (I’m not saying it was the only time. I don’t know), and he’s probably not the first one to do it. I have grown very fond of Miguel over the past two years, and I don’t want to have this one incident force me to do a complete 180 and hate him. At this point, I can’t bring myself to do it.

What happens from here on out will go a long way towards what my final assessment will be. If Miggy has a chronic drinking problem, he needs to get help, and the fans need to support him in that. If this is a one-time incident, my hope would be that he learns from it, atones for it, and doesn’t let it happen again. If it becomes a frequent thing, then I’ll probably get annoyed.

And as a fellow 26-year-old, I’ll let you in on something: We don’t always have the best judgment. In fact, oftentimes we have very poor judgment.

People that are comparing Miguel Cabrera to someone with a 9 to 5 are under the impression that being a baseball player is like being an insurance adjuster or a lawyer or a mechanic. Average Joe would have called in sick. Cabrera can’t- what do you think would happen to him if he sat out due to a hangover in a fairly big game? Cabrera came in, he attempted to do his job, and even though he did it badly, he deserves credit for at least trying to gut it out for the team.

Should he have been drinking? Probably not. Was it reckless and stupid? Yes, but baseball players act reckless and stupid. It happens.

Stop threatening to burn the poor guy in effigy for one stupid decision. It’s ridiculous and distracts from the true matter at hand: the God-forsaken Twinkies and their shit-pile of a stadium.

Yes, the timing is HORRIBLE. I do not condone the actions at all, but let’s not yell for his head. We are all human, we make mistakes. I have heard many stories of some of our other favorite current and past players, that make this a bed time story. This is a problem, but it is HIS and the Tiger’s organizations problem. I will still support this team untill there is criminal elements involved (which has happened to former players).

Go Tigers
Fail Twins

why does everyone assume he’s an acloholic?
Did he express poor judgement. Absolutely. I bet he doesn’t let it get out of hand like this again.
If he was going to be sat, It should have happened on Saturday. Not today or tomorrow. Why now, because it’s now public? The brass all new about this on Saturday, Should have been done then. The team already suffered with his lack of performance by his being drunk and allowed to play that night.
I am sure that Miguel is extremely embarrassed by the whole situation and his pride non-exsistant at this point. I think he has probably been humbled by this whole experience. It’s hard sometimes to live up to other peoples expectations. After all, he is only human. Give him a break. I am dissapointed. But it’s not just him that let the first place lead slip away…. there are 8 other men in the lineup everyday too.
It’s a lot of pressure to be his age and carry the weight of the whole offense on your back….all season.
Yes, he will play.Guaranteed . I will defend him… to the bitter end. Just like I would (and did) the other one.

I’ve grown to respect Cabrera from what I’ve seen of him since the trade to Detroit. You may not remember this, but at the time of said trade, Miguel was somewhat long in the waistline. Some people (i.e. me) may have even referred to him as “fat”, “dumpy” or “Jabba the Bat”. Since that time, he’s obviously taken his conditioning seriously and is now built like a free safety. This is after sigining the big contract. How many times do you see athletes go the opposite route? To me, that shows Cabrera as a guy who is dedicated to his craft and is willing to put in the time and effort into being the best baseball player he can be. I could be wrong, but I put more stock into that than him getting tanked one night and having the cops show up.

The Tigers and Miggy aren’t doing themselves any favors by remaining silent on this or blaming it on the dog. They need to get out in front of this and come up with a plan to deal with it.

I don’t even know what to think…I’ve been a fan of the Tigers for years, and yet some stupid BS like this makes me wonder what I am doing.

I don’t understand how people try to justify it with “he’s a kid”. He’s not. He’s 26. Most people have jobs at age 26. I’m 19 and I know that if I get totally wasted that I will have a hangover the next day and not be able to function.

People have already caught on, but this is one of the stupidest decisions I can remember. Plaxico Burress seems like Einstein compared to him.

If we traded him next season, fine. Get rid of him and Willis. I want a team like the Twins that cares about playing the entire season. The Twins deserve to win tomorrow. It’s unfortunate for players like Inge, Granderson, Verlander, Porcello, Laird, etc. that they try so hard all season for this [insert swear word] to ruin it on the last weekend of the season.

It’s a shame that he didn’t try to drive drunk, get arrested, and have been out of the lineup. Maybe Raburn could have smacked a few homers and clinched the division for us.

I can’t feel sad if the Twins win tomorrow. They’ve done it right in every way. They’ve played hard, never gave up, and most importantly, acted professionally.

My opinion of Cabrera took a serious hit today, there’s no question that he let his team down and all of us who support him.
I am surprised, the picture I had was of a fun-loving player who gets along with everyone.
I would NOT be surprised if the White Sox played a role in getting him too drunk to be effective, life isn’t fair and he needs to be aware of stuff like that.
If he was hitting his wife then he has a problem and he needs to deal with it or she needs to, either way that s**t needs to stop.
But getting drunk? When you have a gazillion $$ to spend and you’re 26? That is the least of the issues. The team probably had a “sock” party (or the equivalent) and he won’t do that again.

I’d find it off-puting that there would be 160 internet comments about how drunk I was on Friday night.

I will be most angry if he is not allowed to play tomorrow and we lose. Without him, I see no hope. We already are up against the Metrodome, but how about we remove our best player too? Oh, good idea! Can’t wait to watch the Twins-Yankees series!

He’ll be sober as a judge, stretching to make every out and the first one a BP on Tuesday. Something like this can focus your attention.

via that twitter feed

From Miguel Cabrera: “There was an incident that took place on Saturday and it is a personal matter. I am sorry this has become a distraction, and I apologize to the Tigers, my teammates, and all of the fans. I would appreciate it if you would respect my family’s privacy as I prepare for our next game.”

MLB has an option for watching tomorrow’s game and playoff games online, for $10.
http://bit.ly/1XRJvr

http://detroit.tigers.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20091005&content_id=7333898&vkey=news_det&fext=.jsp&c_id=det

it’ll be such a big accomplishment with this situation now clouding the team

I want Miguel Cabrera to play tomorrow because it gives the Tigers their best chance to win, distractions and all. But that’s me speaking as a fan. And out of my selfish interest to see the Tigers get into the playoffs, so we can continue our games-based obsession over the team at least through the rest of this week.

I don’t expect the athletes I cheer for to be angels, or even always good citizens. That ship sailed long long ago. That said, I’m disappointed in his actions, not because as some have said on this thread, that by dint of his massive contract, he somehow owes something to “us”, the fans, but because he’s letting his teammates down, and by extension working agianst that selfish fan interest I mention above.

On a more personal level, the drinking doesn’t bother me. The timing of the outing does, but only a little. The hitting of the wife, that bugs me, though I realize that she too was apparently equally involved in the altercation. It seems to me, based on the pieces that are out there, that the drinking binge may have something to do with marital difficulties (mentioned in the Detnews story on the August incident), not just, oh, my buddy from the Chicago White Sox is in the area, let’s go to town. That’s not offered as an excuse, just pointing it out.

Either way, the incident definitely takes the spotlight off of Porcello, and in our eyes, anyway, takes the spotlight off the game itself, to the point where, if we lose, we have a convenient scapegoat for the loss. Not fair, but probably inevitable, and something he absolutely brought on himself. If we lose.

But there is that other possibility, the one where the team rallies around the guy….after all of this angst in this thread, wouldn’t it be amazing if…I can’t go there, can’t allow the daydream to cross over into the reality…but you can’t help but wonder.

First step is tomorrow, and as a Tigers fan, very specifically a fan of the team as a whole, I’m hoping they can shut out this distraction, and overcome the Terrordome and the Twinkies and earn a playoff spot.

Does anyone else think it might be a little awkward with all the boose? (And Porcello would have to stay away from all of it on top of that)

wear my Cabrera jersey tomorrow.

I just realized that with this whole business with Miggy, I’ve been talking about it here and forming my own assessment of the situation and therefore I did NOT do any work on my Metrodome slide show. Sorry, guys, but that’s one project that’s likely to remain incomplete now.

to believe that his wife’s injury was minor and more so incidental … the drinking I don’t care about too much … wasn’t Mantle a bonefide drunk? Its tough expect perfect dedication to his craft like someone like Pujols has … but man it be nice if did … Albert wouldn’t do this.

apparently there is this Brett Farva guy, and he is to play in some sort of Football game tonight in Minnesota?

I think we’ll need a game thread at about 6 AM tomorrow. Set your alarm.

He’s hot, Grandy’s not.

 I looked up Biggy’s stats of late.

In 38 AB’s he’s had only 9 hits, making his AVG for the last 10 days .237.

Not good.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/play-index/p-pvb.cgi?year=0&n1=bakersc02#choice=&bats=&minPA2=0&year_game=2009&opp_id=DET&orderby=BA&orderbyb=Name&minPA=0&orderbydir=DESC&orderbydirb=ASC&n1=bakersc02&as=pitcher

http://www.baseball-reference.com/play-index/p-pvb.cgi?year=0&n1=bakersc02#choice=&bats=&minPA2=0&year_game=career&opp_id=DET&orderby=BA&orderbyb=Name&minPA=0&orderbydir=DESC&orderbydirb=ASC&n1=bakersc02&as=pitcher

I just got back from Florida and THIS is what I come back to?!?! Jesus, I’m impressed that you have all been writing all day about this as well. Kudos to BYB!!!

I’m of the opinion that Cabrera should have to answer to his teammates on this, and not the public. If his teammates want him to sit tomorrow, then that’s what he does. I would be extremely impressed with the Tigers’ players if they were to show one of their own a little team discipline. If they want him to play but learn a different lesson about being a good teammate, that’s great too. As long as that is the bottom line – TEAM. This isn’t something that DD or Leyland should catalyze. This has to come from the teammates. It won’t happen this way, but dammit it should.

apparently Miguel Cabrera made a boo boo. Wouldnt know it from watching the Brett Favre Network, er, ESPN the last 2 hours.

I rented For Love of the Game from the library today, since you all recommended it. I’m not usually a big fan of Kevin Costner, but I suppose I’ll give it a go.

After reading all the comments I think every angle on this has been pretty much covered, but I’m going do it anyway. I’m of the opinion was the guy is human just like the rest of us. I am 23, I while i admittedly don’t have a glorious job, I have seen some people get away with some ridiculous shit and not get fired. Showing up to work drunk, high, no shows on the weekend, you name it I’ve seen it. Granted, a lot of that is because I have really nice bosses, but the point is showing up drunk doesnt necessarily mean every single boss out there is going to give you the boot. Is showing up to work drunk a good idea? Probably not, but I don’t think we should throw him under the bus for it. If there’s one thing every one deserves its a second chance. Benching him isn’t going to do anyone any good. Actions speak louder than words. I could care less how many apologies he issues; if he proves himself through his work ethic and performance on(and off) the field, that’s just as good as any apology.