Well, now we know it wasn't just his dog.
After Miguel Cabrera and the Detroit Tigers opted not to explain the reason for the scratches and bruises on his face after Sunday's game, the Birmingham Police Department told the story for him Monday morning.
According to a report in the Detroit Free Press, Cabrera came home drunk early Saturday morning, after partying with some buddies from the Chicago White Sox. He then got into an argument and scuffle with his wife. Police were called to the home, and Cabrera was eventually taken down to the station for questioning, after his wife insisted that he leave the house. From there, someone from the Tigers picked him up.
Actually, it was general manager Dave Dombrowski who went to get Cabrera. Nothing like having your boss pick you up from the police station.
Also, saying Cabrera was "drunk" is a bit of an understatement. He was stinkin' drunk, to put it in less clinical terms. Cabrera's blood alcohol level was .26. A person is considered to be legally drunk at .08. At a level of .35, the person would be taken to the hospital.
No charges were filed for the incident, and police determined that both parties were "aggressors" in the physical altercation that took place.
Some details from the police report, courtesy of the Freep:
Investigators noticed his wife had an injury to her lower lip; they noted the injury to the left side of Cabrera's face.
Police found a damaged cell phone, and the gold chain Cabrera wears around his neck was broken, too. But when officers asked the couple what happened, neither would explain how they were injured, according to the report.
Obviously, there are several disturbing aspects to this incident. If this is a manifestation of a much larger problem for Cabrera, that's the most troubling part of all. But the domestic part of it is really none of our business, except for the fact that a police report is public record, though many of us would probably like the athletes we root for to live clean and set a good example.
Some people might not like the fact that Cabrera was out having a few with players from the other team, but how we perceive the world of professional sports likely doesn't match the reality of the lifestyle in many cases. This is but one example of that.
But if you want to point to exactly how drunk Cabrera got with his buddies the night before an important game - a game in which teammates, coaches, and executives expect a representative performance, a game that tens of thousands of fans paid good money to watch - that's fair game.
Knowing that Cabrera came home some 12 hours before a ballgame (and approximately eight hours before he was probably expected to be at the ballpark) incredibly drunk is disappointing, to make another understatement. That could go a long way toward explaining Cabrera's 0-for-4 showing in Saturday night's game.
Besides the fact that he let his teammates down in one of the most important games of the season, Cabrera's actions also put players, coaches, and trainers in the position of having to answer questions about his facial cuts and bruises before and after the game.
And now, this is the story surrounding the Tigers, a day before they play a game to determine the AL Central champion in Minneapolis.
If he hasn't already - and I'm guessing that he has - Cabrera has probably answered for his behavior to those within the team that expect much, much more from him (and pay him an extravagant amount of money). Will he also hold himself accountable to the fans that have invested themselves emotionally and financially in his performance? We shall see.
- Kurt Mensching has covered this thoroughly from virtually every angle at Mack Avenue Tigers.
- Here's the Detroit News' report on the story.
- At Big League Stew, Kevin Kaduk believes the Tigers should send Cabrera home for the rest of the season.
- J. Ellet Lambie hates having to write about stuff like this at Eye of the Tigers.
- And Terry Foster is a truly irresponsible journalist for propagating rumors on Facebook about what may or may not happened Friday night in Birmingham. I can only hope the Detroit News is evaluating this. I also hope people call him out on his radio show this afternoon. Can you imagine if a blogger did that?