Miguel Cabrera. Photo/AP
Willis Reed fought through a torn thigh muscle in the NBA Finals. Kirk Gibson took Dennis Eckersley deep on one leg in the World Series. Tiger Woods labored through an 18-hole playoff to wrestle the US Open from Rocco Mediate.
The above-mentioned legends all had one thing in common.
They overcame bumps, bruises, tears, and fractures to perform on their sport’s biggest stage. Their bodies told them to stop, but their hearts would not listen. After all, what choice did they have?
When you are just minutes away from reaching the mountaintop, you must persevere. Sure, you’d love to go find a hammock and start the off-season snooze, but the magnitude of the moment lifts you up and allows you that one more moment in the sun.
Miguel Cabrera enters the 2013 post season looking like the patient from the board game Operation. He’s got a tender groin, a bum hip, and a strained abdominal. He will attempt to join Reed, Gibson, and Woods in this esteemed group of athletes that went above and beyond to block out the pain in search of championship glory.
The story would not be quite the same, however.
Weeks of Possible Rehab
Whereas the preceding group had no time to rest or recover, Cabrera has had just that; weeks upon weeks of possible rehab time where he could have been healing, improving, gaining strength in anticipation of a long October run.
Instead, he kept on playing. Every single day.
It’s been the elephant in the room for the last month. “Why is Miguel Cabrera still in the lineup?”
The AL Central, for all intents and purposes, was decided on August 8th, a full 55 days ago. That was the day the Tigers completed a 4-game sweep in Cleveland, widening the gap to a very healthy seven, and all but ending any possibility of a wild two-horse race to the finish. The Tigers played mediocre ball the rest of the way, going just 25 and 24. Even so, the Tribe never seriously threatened and the Detroiters cruised to the division win.
Why then, was Miguel Cabrera out there practically every night the rest of the way? Nobody seems to have the answer.
Every couple of weeks, the same cryptic statement has come via the Tigers medical staff. “Continuing to play will not put Cabrera at risk for more serious injury,” or something to that effect. I would grant them that fact. Maybe the ailments had hit a ceiling of sorts, and playing more games would not necessarily lead to a catastrophic event.
But how exactly are you supposed to get better? If you don’t give the body a rest, and allow the aches and pains to recede a bit, where does the improvement come from?
In short, it doesn’t. Miguel Cabrera has been breaking down steadily over the last month.
One Measly Homer
Over his last 25 games, Cabrera has strode to the plate 96 times, and hit one measly home run. Extrapolate that pace for a full baseball season, and you’re looking at a weak-hitting middle infielder that will likely squeak out 5 or 6 round-trippers. These are not the numbers of a soon-to-be back-to-back Most Valuable Player. They are the numbers of a Neifi Perez.
People are mistaken in thinking that such physical impairments only affect Cabrera when he’s on the move, meaning running the bases or playing the field. Of course, he is tremendously impacted when doing these things, but mobility in the batter’s box is an underrated necessity.
My dad, a softball veteran of the highest order and a perennial puller of quad/hammy/calf muscles, talks about this very issue every summer. He preaches about the torque, power, and flexibility necessary to properly transfer weight and then strike a ball with full force. While you aren’t churning your legs or sprinting at full speed when hitting a baseball, a fully functioning lower body and a confident mind are still of the utmost importance.
It would appear Cabrera has neither at the moment.
Keeping Up Bat Speed
Obviously, with any major decision in professional sports, there has to be some type of reasoning or thought that went into it. This is no exception. Leyland has stated that the main motivation in routinely penciling Cabrera into the 3-hole is to make sure his bat speed stays quick and his reflexes sharp. It’s perfectly sound thinking. You want all of your players firing on all cylinders heading into post season play.
But at what cost?
For my money, I’d rather let the man sit for the better part of a month, get as close to full strength as possible over that period of time, and hope that a future Hall of Famer would be able to shake off the rust when the lights go on in October. It’s obviously for different reasons, but isn’t that precisely what the team is hoping for with Jhonny Peralta?
The Tigers open the playoffs Friday night in Oakland saddled with a sputtering offense and a wheezing superstar.
To reach this point, the team has utilized contributions from a number of sources. Torii Hunter refused to age, Prince Fielder and Victor Martinez busted out of their slumps, and Omar Infante hit everything in sight for the last two months.
But how good can the Tigers be without a productive Miguel Cabrera?
Maybe good enough to win a game, or squeak out a series -- but asking for more than that is like praying the tooth fairy leaves you $20 under the pillow. You can hope for it, and there’s a remote chance you’ll be rewarded, but you’d be better off not getting your hopes up.
Miguel Cabrera has been a warrior in the latter part of the 2013 season. He has suited up most every day and offered whatever he could to aid the cause. Along the way, somebody should have mentioned to him; these games don’t truly matter yet.
Now they finally do and he’s hobbling around like Seabiscuit.
The playoffs are fast approaching and the most feared slugger in the game is now masquerading as a Punch-and-Judy hitter virtually devoid of any extra-base power.
The Tigers gave Cabrera the day off on Sunday to get him a little more rest.
Funny...he could have used about 30 more.
