August 29, 200619 yr "MIAMI -- With the Marlins surging and very much in the mix in the National League wild-card race, Miguel Cabrera is turning South Florida into a dangerous place for visiting teams. The Marlins' third baseman has become an unstoppable force for opposing pitchers, especially at Dolphins Stadium, as he competes for the National League batting title and keeps Florida in the hunt for the postseason. Cabrera is the sixth-youngest player in MLB history to reach 100 career home runs.Cabrera, 24, is hitting .400 in August to raise his average to .340 for the year, behind only Pittburgh's Freddy Garcia (.346) for the league lead. In addition, he has 31 RBI this month, a team record, and is now just three away from driving in 100 for the third consecutive season. "To be honest, I do want to win the batting title and I am focused on it," Cabrera told ESPNdeportes.com. "When a hitter is that close to something like that, he's got to take advantage of it and go for it. "You never know when you'll have another chance at a batting title in your career." In his fourth season in the majors (and third complete season), Cabrera is putting together his best year, despite not having the type of protection in the Marlins' lineup that he had in previous campaigns. With its "market correction" to reduce payroll in the offseason, Florida said goodbye to most of its big-name players. Carlos Delgado, Mike Lowell, Juan Pierre, Luis Castillo and Paul Lo Duca were replaced by youngsters with little or no big league experience, leaving Cabrera as a lone warrior in the Marlins' lineup. "From the beginning, I knew I'd have to make some adjustments, because opposing pitchers weren't going to throw me many good pitches," said Cabrera, who is hitting .353 at home and has drawn a career-high 68 walks this season. "I've had to learn to be patient by necessity, because generally I only see one good pitch per at-bat, and a lot of times I don't see anything close [to the strike zone]." Cabrera, who has 23 home runs, may not reach his career high of 33 two years ago, but he has reached new heights in doubles (44) and leads the majors in on-base percentage (.429). "This is the most important race we have -- the collective goal of reaching the playoffs and wiping out all the predictions about us before the season." -- Miguel Cabrera has grown into a dominant hitter, the Marlins have become an unexpected threat to Cincinnati, Philadelphia, San Diego, San Francisco and other teams competing for the NL wild card. With a payroll of just $15 million (lowest in MLB), Florida has won eight straight and 12 of its last 17 to go to 64-66 for the season, two games under .500 and two games off the wild-card pace. "This is the most important race we have -- the collective goal of reaching the playoffs and wiping out all the predictions about us before the season," said Cabrera. Enrique Rojas is a reporter and columnist for ESPNdeportes.com and ESPN.com." I'm liking the recognition...
August 29, 200619 yr Thanks for the article! I found some more MVP-loving for Miggy at cnnsi.com: CNNSI.com Surprise NL award candidates "Yes, Ryan Howard has thrust himself into the NL MVP debate thanks to his incendiary August, joining Albert Pujols and Carlos Beltran in the race. But what about Miguel Cabrera? The Marlins' third baseman deserves to be included in the discussion. The 23-year-old, who would be the youngest NL MVP winner since Johnny Bench (22 in 1970), is the best player on baseball's biggest surprise team. He leads the NL in OBP and ranks second in hitting, fourth in OPS and sixth in slugging and RBIs." :thumbup
August 29, 200619 yr M-V-P M-V-P It would be nice if the stadium would actually chant that. I tried yesterday and was met with "Carlos Beltran?" f***ing South Florida.
August 29, 200619 yr 1 more month like he just had and if the Fish get in the postseason then I think he has to win it.
August 29, 200619 yr WildMarlin that will happen, if Cabs duplicates Aug in Sept, he WILL be the NL MVP. Especially with David Wright falling off the face of the Earth the last few weeks.
August 29, 200619 yr WildMarlin that will happen, if Cabs duplicates Aug in Sept, he WILL be the NL MVP. Especially with David Wright falling off the face of the Earth the last few weeks. It was never Wright's to win. It's been Pujols and lately Beltran.
August 29, 200619 yr WildMarlin that will happen, if Cabs duplicates Aug in Sept, he WILL be the NL MVP. Especially with David Wright falling off the face of the Earth the last few weeks. It was never Wright's to win. It's been Pujols and lately Beltran. Damn you should talk to the guys in my office (of course they are all NYers and Mets fans). :lol To those guys, even now they squawk when I mention Cabrera as an MVP candidate. They think because he plays for the Marlins he doesn't count. I try to tell them the MVP doesn't by right always come from a NY team.
August 29, 200619 yr M-V-P M-V-P It would be nice if the stadium would actually chant that. I tried yesterday and was met with "Carlos Beltran?" f***ing South Florida. It's hard being a fan of Florida teams in South Florida, isn't it? It's immensely irritating sometimes.
August 29, 200619 yr M-V-P M-V-P It would be nice if the stadium would actually chant that. I tried yesterday and was met with "Carlos Beltran?" f***ing South Florida. It's hard being a fan of Florida teams in South Florida, isn't it? It's immensely irritating sometimes. The worst part is that those are going to be the guys buying his jersey come playoff time.
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.