Miguel Cabrera is having one of the greatest seasons at the plate by a Tiger in many years.
There’s an ongoing debate as I write this column today about who should be the American League MVP and who means more to their teams. Arguments can be made for Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Angels and of course our own Miguel Cabrera.
Since Cabrera has come to Detroit our Tigers have been a different team. Not only has Cabrera provided offense that we haven’t seen in many years, but he has also provided others in the lineup with the ability to get better pitches to hit. Everyone in the lineup with Cabrera will just honestly be better hitters because nobody wants to see Cabrera all the time with men on base.
Put very simply: Miguel Cabrera is the best hitter I have ever seen. Why?
He has got the quickest hands for a hitter I have ever seen. He also is smart. Folks, there is not enough consideration for how smart he is as a hitter. The guy is one of the few hitters who can actually set up a pitcher when it counts. I have not seen anyone do that as well since Al Kaline. There are lots of hitters in the world, but very few Al Kaline’s or Miguel Cabrera’s. They know the game and understand the nature of pitching. Compare Cabrera with the rest of the league and you’ll see that he hits the ball better than anyone else, and by the way he hits the ball harder than anyone I’ve ever seen.
I believe ever since Cabrera got to Detroit he’s been the MVP. Last season he was a huge reason why the Tigers won their division by 12 games, and he had several clutch hits that helped Justin Verlander win his 24 games. Cabrera had a great September last season (as he’s doing this year) too. Last September he roared away with the batting title after a great September. He’s won a batting title, home run title, and RBI title as a Tiger BEFORE this season!
Let’s look at context. If you take Cabrera out of our lineup, we’re chopped liver, but if you take Trout out of the Angels lineup they would still be very competitive.
Neither the Tigers or Angels would be where they are without their MVP candidates. Yes, Cabrera falls short defensively at third base, and of course Trout is another Mickey Mantle in center field, he’s as good a center fielder as I have seen. Cabrera on the other hand has had a pot full of errors but I think we all agree that he has been a lot better than any of us thought he’d be.
I’m a “homer” when it comes to this debate. The AL MVP must be Cabrera.
On Scherzer’s tired arm
Max Scherzer is a real mystery to me. How does a pitcher leave a game that means so much after just two innings because of a “tired arm”? He had every medical test known to the world of medicine and nothing was wrong with his arm. That doesn’t makes any sense.
Every pitcher in the major leagues gets tired at the end of the year. Me, Mickey Lolich, Bob Gibson, Sandy Koufax, and dozens of others, had tired and sore arms, but we all went out and pitched when it really counted. Who knows when the next time will be that the Tigers will be in a position to get to the World Series?
If we find out that he has an injury, we will visit that at that point, but to leave the mound for being tired in a must-win game is unforgivable. Especiallu since Max has been the team’s best pitcher this year. Makes me wonder what other reasons could there be for Scherzer leaving that game? I don’t even want to suggest to anyone what I believe could be the reason he left the game.
On Jim Leyland
I can’t believe that Jim Leyland is fighting for his job.
GM Dave Dombrowski constructs the big league roster, and the players have not (in some cases) had real major league experience. Jim has had to manage too many first year players. First year players need bench time to get use to the majors. They need to be worked into the game and learn how the game is played. But now is not the time to give newbies a chance to learn the game.
At times it appears that we have more suspects playing than we do prospects.
Terry Francona is the rumor to replace Jim. Come on, forget it. Jim can still do the job but no one wins without players. Francona is a good guy but don’t lose sight of what happened in Boston, where they say he lost total control of the clubhouse, and believe me that is like a spear in the heart.
I believe for whatever reason, Jim has not stressed fundamentals. We may not always agree with Jim, but it’s his butt on the line.
The “Art of Pitching”
I think the most disappointing part of this club besides the obvious defensive issues, is the lack of ability by our guys to play the game correctly and artfully. the Tigers don’t play the game well: we miss double plays, we miss cut-off men, we have a horrible problem with bunting and running the bases, and our pitchers do not pitch artfully.
What do I mean by pitching “artfully”? In other words, they throw way too many pitches when they have a hitter in a hole. Whatever happened to coaching and preparing a pitcher to “pitch” properly? Sometimes I think Tigers pitchers throw pitches just to throw pitches. A pitch should never be thrown without a reason. Detroit catchers have a lack of experience, so they don’t know the difference, which leaves the pitchers to throw wasted pitches.
How many times have we seen one of our pitchers get a hitter in an 0-2 count and then all of a sudden the count is 3-2? Way too many. This is the reason that our staff throws way too many pitches, no one wants to throw strikes and pitch to a hitters weaknesses for some reason, I just don’t get it. But I will tell you this: that there are certain solemn rules that every pitcher must follow and the good ones do follow, we have ignored them here and I have been preaching about the lack of the “Art of Pitching” for years.
What is frustrating for me as a former player and fan is that the Tigers have some very talented pitchers and yet, most of them have tossed over a 100 pitches before the end of the 7th inning. Does that make sense if you are throwing strikes?
I think also that pitchers are now paying too much attention to the radar gun. I think the gun gets in their head and then they start throwing for the gun rather than pitching. Someone – a former SUCCESSFUL PITCHER – must come in here and explain the “Art of Pitching” to Tigers pitchers. Until that happens, success will be spotty at best and the consistency that is required will not be there to do the job.
Denny, Nice comments,
I think Al would be the first to say Cabrera is an even better hitter than he was. The only difference between the two is Cabrera has more Power. The smarts, setting up the pitcher, taking a pitch on the corner and going to right / right center instead of trying to pull it, is a forgotten part of baseball smarts by too many batters.
We all wonder why there are so many 2 out hits, and with 2 strikes on the batter. WTF is Jeff “Wimpy” Jones telling them?? MY kingdom for another Johnny Sain as Pitching Coach, who by the way, today 9/25 would have been his birthday.
Leyland in many a Tigers fans opinion has terrible bullpen management, and also is loyal to a fault sticking with a batter 3/4 months, waiting for them to heat up,
But Dombrowski has too many players that are below replacement level, statues defensively, and just complete hacks swinging away. Plate discipline for many is horrible, give me patient hitters, unafraid to take pitches, work the count, build up an opposing pitchers pitch count. How many time we see a Tigers pitcher labor with 25 plus pitches, and then the Tigers’ hack squad is out of the next half inning in 5/6/7 pitches.
Al Kaline also must cringe and/or facepalm watching some of the non plays and fielding blunders in the corner outfield positions. Boesch might be the worst rightfielder I have ever seen in a Tigers uniform.
DD needs to find better two way players, for the corner outfield, a shortstop with better range than a water buffalo, and put an end to the ‘black hole of crap’ at second base.
Good points that put a smile on my face. Cant beat that combo.
Pitching Coach—Kenny Rogers
Batting Coach—-Leon(Bull)Durham
I would hope that this will be Leylands last year as Manager. He is one of the reasons that the Tigers aren’t better in the standings. He waits ’til they are so far behind, before he decides to take a pitcher out, consequently losing the game. He needs to retire!
Den, This is why I love you…. IN a manly way
… because you are NOT afraid to pull any punches.
I disagree with you on Leyland. His days af usefulness are past. He manages to ‘mismanage’ games at least 1-2 times a week. You’ll notice that the Fox Sports Detroit commercial parade of ‘Every game counts’ no longer is running. That’s because our beloved ‘Jimmy Smokes’ ( a term coined by a Grand Rapids radio station, WBBL’s own Ray Bentley) cannot fathom putting an everyday lineup together and sticking to it. And this year’s attempt to managing a viable and effective relief staff has been utterly useless. Closers coming in to games that are and should be out of reach, setup men that cannot keep a fly ball in the yard, young pitchers going through the lineups two times and mowing down the opposition and then when the third time comes around and they get tagged for three, four, five runs, leaving the guy in there until the offense cannot recover.
Granted, not enough guys are having career years, a fact that needs to happen for teams to be successful, the players need more consistancy than they have shown. But Smokes has personally cost the Tigers 10 games this year, at least, maybe more.
And don’t get me started on our shoddy 3rd base coach and our hitting coach.
As for the rest of your premise, I agree whole-heartedly. Too many guys swinging at the first pitch tossed up there. Not enough guys to ‘run’ the bases. Some shaky defense at times. Too many failures to bunt properly. That, too, falls on Smokes’ lap. This team is flawed and have won titles and games IN SPITE of Jimmy Smokes. HE MUST GO!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well Mr. McLain I couldn’t agree with you more about Cabrera being the MVP. I think if Trout wins the MVP, it will be for what he did in the first half of the season. Trout’s average has dropped because pitcher are facing him for the second time and are learning how to pitch to him. Have pitchers figured out how to pitch to Cabrera? I don’t think so. I didn’t understand the debate, Cabrera is a way better hitter then Trout, and I think the Tigers aren’t in first place without Miggy. Would the Angels still be in third place without Trout? I think so! Mr. McLain you say you don’t understand why Jim Leyland is fighting for his job, then go on to say that the Tigers lack the ability to play the game correctly and artfully. Isn’t it the managers job to see to it that the players DO play the game the correctly and artfully? Leyland shouldn’t have to fight for his job, he should have been gone after the 2009 season, THAT’S when he should’ve had to fight for his job. LEYLAND NEEDS TO GO!
Well Mr. McLain I couldn’t agree with you more about Cabrera being the MVP. I think if Trout wins the MVP, it will be for what he did in the first half of the season. Trout’s average has dropped because pitcher are facing him for the second time and are learning how to pitch to him. Have pitchers figured out how to pitch to Cabrera? I don’t think so. I didn’t understand the debate, Cabrera is a way better hitter then Trout, and I think the Tigers aren’t in first place without Miggy. Would the Angels still be in third place without Trout? I think so! Mr. McLain you say you don’t understand why Jim Leyland is fighting for his job, then go on to say that the Tigers lack the ability to play the game correctly and artfully. Isn’t it the managers job to see to it that the players DO play the game correctly and artfully? Leyland shouldn’t have to fight for his job, he should have been gone after the 2009 season, THAT’S when he should’ve had to fight for his job. LEYLAND NEEDS TO GO!
Gary, I couldn’t agree with you more! Jim genius needs to go! This team should have walked to 100 wins and to not even win 90 is a disgrace. To Mr. McLain who was a childhood hero and who I got to meet and talk to a few times. Dave D. did not set the line-up earlier in the year with the pitiful Brandon Inge getting way more playing time then he deserved and then for Inge to say after he left he just wanted a chance? A chance? He was given 9 years! How much of a chance did he want? Also, it wasn’t Dave D that put the sorry Ryan Raburn in the line-up night after night. Leyland is in love with career minor leaguer’s like himself. Another point about Inge. After he left he went on a mini terror in Oakland. What does that say about Jimbo’s crony McClendon from his Pittsburgh days? The nice thing is, with the tigs back in first if they blow it now it WILL be all on Jimbo and hopefully Mr.I sees the writing on the wall and dumps him. Leyland is the biggest joke ever for a manager. He made his rep on two issues. Cussing out Balco Barry Bonds years ago and his rant at the beginning of 06. Other then that he is, has been and always will be a .500 manager and it makes me laugh when some people call him a possible hof’er! Are you kidding me? He’s a certified hall of shamer. One last thing back to Mr.McLain. The game will NEVER see pitcher’s like you and teh other’s of the 60′s and 70′s where 300 innings pitched and complete games were a badge of honor. All of you pitcher’s from that era are Gods compared to the wimps of today. I see Mark Buerle just had his 12th consectutive year with 200 innings pitched. Yahoo good for him. When he gets to 300 give me a call. I don’t recall the exact year but Mickey Lolich once through 376 innings in ONE year! Enough said!
Great comments. If Miggy doesn’t get the MVP it will be a shafting just like when Greinke “beat out” Verlander for the Cy Young award a few years back. I do wish my brother Rick wouldn’t hide his feelings so much and let us know how he really feels.
I agree “Miggy” is the best power & average hitter in years. Not a better hitter than Kaline. Ted Williams was the best hitter I ever saw. Mickey Mantel & Willie Mays the best hitters for average and power. Plus they were hitting against much better pitching in those days and the mound was higher too. Denny, Mickey, Gibson etc would have to be dragged out of a game if the limit was a 100pitches. Tom Seaver had over 300 complete games!
Hi Denny:
You have great insight! Here is something I’m sure you have noticed. How about sending slow runners to the next bag and a fan can call them out before the play ends????? This makes me livid….especially since the season is winding down…How stupid can you get? Quit giving away outs!!!! If a fan can sit at home and call it…what the hell is wrong with the Tigers coaching staff??