Congrats, Miguel Cabrera, On The Triple Crown!!

[ABM]

Bears mentioning.

First time since Ted Williams accomplished this feat....45 years ago!!

 

[RR7]

Carl Yastrzemski

 

[ABM]

Carl Yastrzemski

True dat!

Thanks for the correction.

 

[GriLtCheeZ]

Cool!

 

[BLAZINGGIANTS]

Yo, come on now, ABM. Get it right. It's not the Triple Crown. It's the AL Triple Crown.

My boy Gerald Dempsey Posey (aka Buster) kept Cabrera from winning the MLB Triple Crown.

Just sayin'.

 

[HailBlazers]

MVP. Hopefully the MLB gets that right.

 

[Spud147]

Bears mentioning.

First time since Ted Williams accomplished this feat....45 years ago!!

What a weird name for a horse.

 

[3RA1N1AC]

MVP. Hopefully the MLB gets that right.

if mike trout doesnt win it it will be understandable, but a mistake

 

[3RA1N1AC]

What a weird name for a horse.

 

[BrianFromWA]

if mike trout doesnt win it it will be understandable, but a mistake

The Hank Aaron Award was created for seasons like Cabrera's. The MVP should take into account defense, speed, pitching, impact on team, etc.

 

[BLAZINGGIANTS]

if mike trout doesnt win it it will be understandable, but a mistake

Agreed. But I won't be shocked if Cabrera wins it.

And let's be honest for a minute. Barring anything catastrophic, we'll look back on Trout's career in 15-20 years, review his stats, talk about how amazing they were, and he could have 4-8 MVP's, and we'll never know any different about his rookie year.

The guy could wind up being one of THE all-time greats. The dude at 21 is what Barry Bonds was in his late-20's, if not better. That's when Bonds was the legit 5-tool player, before juice, when he was one of the best defensive outfielders, a stolen base threat, a power threat, a tough out at the plate.

 

[Mediocre Man]

I really disagree about Mike Trout winning

Cabrera had more

ab's
hits
doubles
home runs
way less k's
average
slg
OPS (obviously)
total bases
Extra base hits
Runs created

 

[BrianFromWA]

Which is why Cabrera should win the Hank Aaron and Silver Slugger. There's more to baseball than what goes on in the batters' box, which is why Verlander was able to win.

 

[Mediocre Man]

Which is why Cabrera should win the Hank Aaron and Silver Slugger. There's more to baseball than what goes on in the batters' box, which is why Verlander was able to win.

Both had fielding ratings over .900. Trout was better, but Cabrera plays 3rd base. What else does he need to do?

 

[BLAZINGGIANTS]

Trout is already one of the best defensive outfielders. Cabrera ain't bad at 3B, but he doesn't elicit visions of all-time greats at 3B (let alone, current 3B) like Trout does in the OF.

Trout's WAR is absolutely ridiculous. Trout also had 4 errors to Cabrera's 32. Cabrera has a NEGATIVE defensive WAR (so he'd below-average defensively), Trout's is positive. Trout's average is just behind Cabrera's, he has a better OBP, he provides far more speed than Cabrera (49 SB to Cabrera's 4). 8 triples to Cabrera's big 0. Scored 20 more runs than Cabrera.

All in 139 games, as he was in AAA the first few weeks of the year.

Don't get me wrong - they're different types of players. Cabrera is in the heart of the order (protected by Prince Fielder, no less). Trout leads off. Detroit made the playoffs, while the Angels did not.

I won't be surprised if either player wins (though I expect Cabrera to just barely win it). But you certainly can't write-off Trout, and he's arguably as deserving as Cabrera. He's certainly the more complete player of the two. Which I think is Brian's point - the "p" in player stands for player, that's both sides of the game, offense AND defense. While Cabrera is a star at the plate, he's below-average defensively according to stats (though I'd say he's average from what I've seen, or at least adequate).

 

[3RA1N1AC]

I really disagree about Mike Trout winning

WAR is the excepted measure of a players worth, generally offensive WAR, and defensive WAR

trout had a higher OFFENSIVE WAR than cabrera, never mind their huge difference in defensive WAR

not to mention cabrera lead the league in GIDP

cabrera will probably win, and good for him he had a great year at bat, but clearly trout was more valuable, and had a better season

 

[3RA1N1AC]

Both had fielding ratings over .900. Trout was better, but Cabrera plays 3rd base. What else does he need to do?

are you talking about fielding percentage?

also, cabrera had a better year at the plate last year, when he didnt win the triple crown, and he finished 5th in the MVP

 

[MARIS61]

Comparing an infielder to an outfielder is like comparing an infantryman to a drone pilot.

 

[3RA1N1AC]

the importance of a centerfielder is comparable to only shortstop and catcher defensively

they stick the bad fielders at 1b, 3b, rf, and lf usually

 

[Denny Crane]

Comparing an infielder to an outfielder is like comparing an infantryman to a drone pilot.

Or 60 homers in 154 games to 61 homers in 162.

 

[MARIS61]

Or 60 homers against weenie-arms throwing 70 mph to 61 homers against aces throwing 90mph and faster.

FIFY.

Roger Maris is STILL the American League single season home run record holder after 51 years and the only player to ever hit 61 without chemical assistance in the history of the game.

http://www.baseball-almanac.com/hitting/hihr4al.shtml

 

[Denny Crane]

You didn't fix anything.

Ruth hit his 60 homers against a league with fewer teams, thus deeper pitching staffs.

 

[MARIS61]

the importance of a centerfielder is comparable to only shortstop and catcher defensively

they stick the bad fielders at 1b, 3b, rf, and lf usually

If by "they" you mean unsuccessful t-ball coaches, then you are correct.

There are no "bad" fielders in professional baseball.

 

[MARIS61]

You didn't fix anything.

Ruth hit his 60 homers against a league with fewer teams, thus deeper pitching staffs.

In Ruth's day most players were not even professionals. It didn't pay enough so they were farmers or milkmen and pitched as a summer job or 2nd job or as a sort of hobby or to impress their girlfriend. There were no relief pitchers and they were expected to pitch all nine innings every outing. They played games nearly every day. There was no science to it, no talented and wise pitching coaches, and nearly every pitcher just made up his own style and often goofy windup. Batters typically hit above .350. For a big guy who could swing a bat, no matter how slowly, it was like shooting ducks in a barrel.

 

[tlongII]

True dat!

Thanks for the correction.

Frank Robinson did it more recently than Williams too.

 

[Denny Crane]

In Ruth's day most players were not even professionals. It didn't pay enough so they were farmers or milkmen and pitched as a summer job or 2nd job or as a sort of hobby or to impress their girlfriend. There were no relief pitchers and they were expected to pitch all nine innings every outing. They played games nearly every day. There was no science to it, no talented and wise pitching coaches, and nearly every pitcher just made up his own style and often goofy windup. Batters typically hit above .350. For a big guy who could swing a bat, no matter how slowly, it was like shooting ducks in a barrel.

Batters did not. And before Ruth, the best anyone could do was 139 lifetime homers. So he clearly dominated a game that was not kind to power hitters.

Ruth also hit 59 in a 154 game season. It took Maris a good part of 3 more years to hit another 61 homers after the '61 season.

What was Babe Ruth's offseason job?

Nolan Ryan worked as an air-conditioning installer in 1968. Phil Rizzuto and Yogi Berra worked in the offseason selling suits at a Newark department store. Richie Hebner was a grave digger in the offseason.