Miguel Cabrera
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Florida Marlins — No. 24 | |
| Third base | |
| Bats: Right | Throws: Right |
| Major League Baseball debut | |
|---|---|
| June 20, 2003 for the Florida Marlins | |
| Selected MLB statistics (through 2006) |
|
| Batting average | .311 |
| HR | 104 |
| RBI | 404 |
José Miguel Torres Cabrera (born April 18, 1983 in Maracay, Aragua State, Venezuela) is a Major League Baseball player for the Florida Marlins. When he started his Major League career in 2003, Cabrera was 6'2" and weighs 210 pounds; he is now 6'4" and 240.[1] He bats and throws right handed. He is the regular third baseman for the 2006 Florida Marlins.
Unusually, the onetime shortstop has played a number of positions — he has at least 100 starts at each of third base, left field and right field[2]. Cabrera didn't attend college. He progressed through the Marlins minor-league system and was called up from the Double-A Carolina Mudcats in 2003.
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[edit] Rookie year
In his major league debut on June 20, 2003, Cabrera hit a game-ending, game-winning home run. Quietly, he put together one of the best seasons by a National League rookie, immediately becoming the Marlins cleanup batter. His postseason play helped propel Florida to a World Series championship over the Yankees, landed him on the cover of ESPN magazine during the offseason.
In the NLDS against the Giants, Cabrera hit .286 with three RBI. After changing positions in the heat of the NLCS against the Cubs, he hit .333 with three homers and six RBI. In the World Series, Cabrera had the at-bat that defined his postseason in the Game Four. Facing Roger Clemens for the first time, Cabrera, who was only 20 years old at the time, got knocked down by a legendary Roger Clemens inside fastball. Two pitches later, he belted the Clemens offering into the right field seats.
In his first season Cabrera batted .268 (84-for-314), with 12 home runs, 62 RBI, 39 runs, 21 doubles, and three triples in 87 games played.
[edit] 2004 & 2005
In 2004, he proved that his rookie season — .294 batting average, 33 homers, 112 RBI, 101 runs, 177 hits, .366 on base percentage, .512 slugging percentage from the third and fourth spots in the order, 160 games played, and an All-Star berth — was no fluke. In 2005 he came in second in the National League in hits with 198, and batted .323 with 33 homers, 43 doubles, 2 triples, and 116 RBI's.
During a July 9, 2006 7-6 road loss to the Mets there was an incident involving Cabrera and his teammate Scott Olsen. Olsen had matched Mets starter Tom Glavine until the Mets took a 2-0 lead on Xavier Nady's two-run home run. An agitated Olsen was able to retire the next two batters before Jose Valentin doubled to left. The next batter, Paul Lo Duca, hit a hard grounder that glanced off Cabrera's glove and rolled into left field. Valentin scored and Lo Duca raced to second with a double.
While the play glanced off of Cabrera's glove, Olsen seemed to believe that Cabrera did not give his full effort to get to the ball, and Olsen spoke to him about it. As they came off the field, Olsen could be seen shouting something at Cabrera. A moment later, television cameras showed Cabrera in the crowded dugout reaching past teammates to poke his finger at Olsen as the pitcher walked past him. Olsen tried to jab back at Cabrera, who charged Olsen and tried to kick the pitcher before both players were quickly separated by teammates.[3]
[edit] 2006
Cabrera moved back to third base in the 2006 season, and was voted to the All-Star team at this position. However, his defense was one of the reasons given for the National League's loss to the American League in the 2006 Major League Baseball All-Star Game. With 2 outs in the 9th inning, and the National League leading 2-1, Paul Konerko singled off of Trevor Hoffman to start a 9th inning rally that eventually led to the American League's victory and the AL securing home-field advantage in the 2006 World Series.
After the game, many writers and commentators noted that Cabrera was not playing in the best possible position to stop Konerko's single. Manager Phil Garner was criticized for not bringing in the veteran Scott Rolen in the 9th inning for defensive reasons.
[edit] Facts
- On February 17th, 2007, Cabrera became the first player of the 2007 offseason to win his arbitration hearing.[4]
- At 20 years and 63 days, Cabrera became the second-youngest Marlin in franchise history, behind Edgar Renteria (19 years, 211 days).
- On Thursday, June 22, 2006, Cabrera singled on the first pitch of an attempted intentional walk, a very unusual occurrence.[5]
- Made the National League All-Star team in 2004, 2005 and 2006.
- Became the first player in Marlins history to have 30+ home runs and 100+ RBI in consecutive seasons.
- Won his first Silver Slugger award in 2005 and his second in 2006.
- Youngest player in Major League Baseball history to hit back-to-back 30 homer seasons (22 years, 143 days). Albert Pujols of the Cardinals did it at 22 years, 223 days.
- Cabrera is just the third player since 1900 to hit a game-winning home run in his big-league debut. The other two were Josh Bard in 2002 and Billy Parker in 1971.
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes
- ^ "Document to be confirmed", Miami Herald. Retrieved on March 22, 2007.
- ^ Fielding stats at baseball-reference.com
- ^ Tom D'Angelo. "Learning to Lead", Cox News, 2006-07-14. Retrieved on March 22, 2007.
- ^ "Cabreara's arbitration case settled", espn.com, 2007-02-17. Retrieved on March 22, 2007.
- ^ "ESPN Game recap", espn.com, 2006-06-22. Retrieved on March 22, 2007.
[edit] External links
- ESPN - profile and daily updates
- Baseball Reference - career statistics and analysis
