Miguel Cabrera’s season-ending injury on Tuesday night stunned the Detroit Tigers and the baseball world in general. The fact that it happened so abruptly, on a routine swing, made it all the more jarring. Cabrera suffered what head athletic trainer, Doug Teter, described as a distal bicep tendon rupture in his left biceps after a swing and miss in the third inning. Cabrera immediately walked off the field, and just like that, his season was over.
Cabrera will undergo surgery by Dr. David Altchek on Thursday. According to MLive, Cabrera will face a long and arduous rehabilitation, with the rough goal of resuming baseball activities in six months. Should that timetable play out, Cabrera would have plenty of time to prepare for spring camp.
As Anthony Fenech reported for the Freep, Cabrera is still trying to process the abrupt end to his season.
“I’m like, in shock right now,” Cabrera said. “Because I’m not going to be able to play more this year. It’s tough, but in the same way, I gotta go out and fix it and try to come back better.”
If you’re not feeling bad enough about the loss of the future Hall-of-Famer, I encourage you to read this depressing piece from David Schoenfeld of ESPN. Schoenfeld looks at Cabrera’s injury history, and voices the fear of every Tigers fan; that 2016 was the last hurrah, and we’ll never see Cabrera in anything approaching his old form again. Forbes wonders the same thing.
Here at BYB, we poured ourselves a stiff drink, prayed for a healthy recovery for the big man, and looked at the Tigers’ options to plug the Triple Crown winner-sized hole at first base.
Miguel Cabrera is the closest active player to reaching 3000 hits with 2676... Here's a time lapse of all of them. (Fun fact his first @mlb hit was a walk off home run) pic.twitter.com/rBwThcRjJL
— Daren Willman (@darenw) June 13, 2018
The mid-season swap meet is about to kick off
While we usually don’t see many major deals made in June, the stage for July’s wheeling and dealing is beginning to come together. Everyone needs pitching, as always. The Indians need a bat. The Angels need to decide how far they want to push in on the 2018 season with Shohei Ohtani gone for the year and the Astros and red-hot Mariners in their division. The same is true for the Mariners if they have anything left to move.
SB Nation’s Grant Brisbee investigates possibilities for a Manny Machado trade. The Yankees appear to need a high quality starting pitcher, but they may look to focus on the bullpen instead. Anthony Castrovince looks at 10 starting pitchers who will be available to contending teams, and you’ll laugh, cry or shake your head at number two. The Good Phight investigated potential pitching acquisitions for the upstart Philadelphia Phillies. Meanwhile Howard Cole of Forbes directly calls out the Dodgers’ front office and ownership, imploring them to go big this July.
Bark at the Park
Assembling a multitude of dogs and their owners at a baseball stadium sounded like a fun idea from the beginning. Summer sun, happy dogs and happy people hanging out munching their favorite snacks, sipping or lapping their favorite drinks, and taking in a game together. And, as Bark at the Park nights have spread like wildfire across the country in recent years, we’ve all enjoyed plenty of very good dogs and people having a great time.
However, there is a dark side. Hot days with furry dogs packed around water stations. Unskilled dog owners of every sort. Dogs that aren’t quite okay with the whole idea. The occasional scrap. Even the dogs occasionally getting a bit too hyped and causing a ruckus. Overstimulated dogs packed with thousands of other dogs and people into an area where the air is positively filled with the smells of cooking meat. And then long stretches where the dogs are forced to stare out at a glorious meadow of grass they can’t run on. Humans playing with a ball they’ll never be able to chase. It’s frankly incredible that more dogs don’t just snap under these conditions.
One very good dog at a Tulsa Drillers game had finally had enough.
While at the (@TulsaDrillers) game .. dog night at the park .. one dog saw a ball .. and go figure. #Dogs pic.twitter.com/6ws99cEQqR
— Harold R. Kuntz (@HaroldRKuntz3) June 14, 2018
The shortstop handles the situation beautifully, engaging the fired up pup and then rolling a ball back toward the owner to lure the dog back to her. The fact that the dog, realizing who threw the ball for him, and perhaps recognizing the opportunity to play fetch with a professional thrower of balls, brings the ball back over to the shortstop instead of his owner, is pretty hilarious. The poor buddy really, really wanted to play.
Around the horn
Mike Bates looks at baseball’s legacy of cheating for the Hardball Times. All of New York is seemingly calling on the Mets to help out the Yankees by trading them Jacob deGrom. One man takes a stand against this self-serving madness. A clever bar in Baltimore is helping Orioles fans drown their sorrows by offering a free drink every time Chris Davis manages to get a hit. Red Sox reliever Carson Smith blew out his shoulder simply by throwing his glove in frustration. Justin Verlander takes on the Oakland A’s on Thursday looking to continue his incredible start.
And, Ron Gardenhire hit a bit of a milestone last night in the Tigers’ victory over the Twins.
Tonight's victory marks 1,100 career wins for Ron Gardenhire. #Tigers pic.twitter.com/ySdyJnQvuv
— Detroit Tigers (@tigers) June 14, 2018
Oh, and speaking of the Twins, you may have heard the story of St. Paul, Minnesota’s most adventurous raccoon. The critter has captured the imagination--or at least blessedly distracted us from our work--of people across the nation and around the world. We are pleased to report that the raccoon completed whatever Watership Down mission the raccoon people had sent him on, and he has been trapped, fed and returned to the woods.
What you've all been waiting for... #MissionImpossible #MPRraccoon @kare11 @ElleryTV @DPet_KARE11News @timnelson_mpr pic.twitter.com/SZKNem45yf
— Alicia Lewis (@alicialewisKARE) June 13, 2018