Tigers' Miguel Cabrera Wins Triple Crown

miguel cabrera of the detroit tigers achieved a milestone in baseball yesterday. cabrera won the triple crown, finishing the season with 44 home runs, 139 runs batted in, while hitting .330. he is the first player since carl yastrzemski of the boston red sox in 1967 to accomplish such an extraordinary feat. in fact, of the nearly 18,000 men who've played major league baseball, only 12 have won a triple crown.  

in the fourth inning of the tigers final regular season game against the kansas city royals in kansas city, cabrera was pulled from his third base position by tigers manager jim leyland. the royals fans stood in unison as cabrera walked slowly to the dugout & tipped his cap in appreciation. he was 0-for-2 in the game, but nobody cared. they were witnessing history & the fans shared their admiration & respect - even for an opposing player. 

during the month of august cabrera hit 18 home runs with 51 runs batted in. media pundits began to consider baseball history. but 45 years had passed since yaz' remarkable season & the likely hood of cabrera's success was steadily challenged by the angels' mike trout for the batting crown & the rangers' josh hamilton for the home run crown. also, he'd entered the royals series in a slump, hitting .200 with one homer in seven games.

cabrera took the home run lead from rangers center fielder hamilton with a blistering right field shot on monday. he went 4-for-5 that day. tuesday cabrera was 2-for-3, distancing himself in the batting race between him & angels rookie phenom trout, whom some consider his greatest threat for the american league most valuable player race.

"right now, i don't know how to explain it...it was hard the last two weeks because everybody talked about that...it was kind of hard to focus...kind of hard to go out there...right now, it's an unbelievable feeling. wow," said cabrera. tigers catcher alex avila said, "this is one of the greatest things ever achieved. i had chills today once it happened. we probably won't ever see this again. it's been 45 years & it's gotten harder & harder." said leyland, "this is history."

cabrera joins hall of famers like ty cobb, rogers hornsby, jimmie foxx, ted williams, mickey mantle & frank robinson with his triple crown deed. said yastrzemski, "i am glad that he accomplished this while leading his team to the american league central title." said robinson, "miguel has been outstanding all year long, by coming to play every day, showing his discipline at the plate & making the most of his great talent."