Miguel Cabrera was stressed, angry

Shit, he did a great job hiding it on the field — I can’t wait to see what he looks/plays like happy.

Miguel Cabrera stories from the media is the new Damonpalooza.

the link to Jen’s take shows some fallacies in how this story is viewed by some.

“Another issue is whether Cabrera is in denial. He scolded reporters for saying he was an alcoholic, and said that his problems were not alcohol-related. Huh? I think getting drunk and using abusive language on an overweight teenager qualify as alcohol-related.”

First, he didn’t “scold” reporters. He took a very passive approach to their take that he was “an alcoholic”. He corrected them, and he was right to do so. Second, he did NOT say that his problems were not “alcohol related”. He never, ever spoke generally of “his problems” either on the field or off. Where did he ever address the “problem” with fat boy? He didn’t. Seems to me that he faced the real issue head on. Miguel spoke of the one incident and said what he did was wrong. But he said he was not “an alcoholic” Do you, the media expert, have a medical opinion on this subject to question him?

My lay person’s view of the matter is, that if a person can quit drinking, they’re not an alcoholic. Sure, there are other symptoms, such as drinking alone, thinking that you “need” a drink, or that a drink can help you, but ultimately, you’re either addicted or not. If he’ has quit, he’s not addicted.

Not that there isn’t some concern for Miggy’s remarks. A guy that blows a .26 has built up a tolerance. A guy that’s six foot five that blows a .26 has sucked down some quantities of booze. Doing it the night before a game where the season is on the line? Cause for concern, to say the least. But he admitted that what he did was wrong. Still, this is the ONLY player in the league to finish in the top ten in average, homers, and RBI. He had a fine season. I’d love to see what kind of season he has when he’s not so under pressure!

Is that he recognized that he was under pressure and dealt with the stress in a non-constructive manner, and has decided that didn’t work and taken steps to change. Good for him.

Anyone doesn’t have to go far to see people who deal with work, family, or school pressure by drinking – it’s a very common way of self-medicating. That he realized the source of his problem with alcohol and has taken steps to compensate for it by building up his support system is very mature (and a step that a lot of people don’t take – they figure if they just stop drinking that will be enough, instead of realizing that something needs to take the place of the drinking, like family).