BOISE, Idaho — This Day In Sports…October 3, 2012:
Miguel Cabrera of the Detroit Tigers becomes the first player in 45 years and only the 10th in modern major league history to win baseball’s Triple Crown in a 1-0 victory over Kansas City. Cabrera hit .330 with 44 home runs and 139 runs batted in, edging Angels rookie Mike Trout in batting average and nudging the Yankees’ Curtis Granderson and the Rangers’ Josh Hamilton by one homer. Cabrera was a runaway winner for the RBI title. The monster year saw Cabrera earn the first of two consecutive American League MVP Awards.
Cabrera, a native of Venezuela, made his big league debut in 2003 at the age of 20 for the then-Florida Marlins and was part of the team’s World Series championship that year. He was traded to Detroit in 2008 and was instantly dominant. In 2013, he was making waves for a second straight Triple Crown as he became the first player ever to reach 30 home runs and 90 RBI by the All-Star break. Injuries plagued him the second half of the season, but he still batted a career-high .348. There are three players in history to record career batting averages over .300 with 3,000 hits and 500 home runs: Cabrera, Hank Aaron and Willie Mays.
Boston’s Carl Yastrzemski had been the last Triple Crown winner back in 1967, and Baltimore’s Frank Robinson had achieved the feat the previous year. Before that, you have to go back to the Yankees’ Mickey Mantle in 1956—and then to Ted Williams in 1942 and 1947. Major League Baseball has had just 10 players win a total of 12 Triple Crowns since RBIs became an official statistic in 1920.
L.A. Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani, who just finished probably the best seasons in MLB history, narrowly missed the Triple Crown in the National League. Ohtani led the NL with 54 home runs and 130 runs batted in, but San Diego’s Luis Arraez won the batting title with a .310 average. Ohtani made a late push to finish at .310. That 54 number is one that will be long remembered when it’s paired with 59, his stolen bases total. Ohtani, of course, became the first 50/50 player in major league history.
(Tom Scott hosts the Scott Slant segment during the football season on KTVB’s Sunday Sports Extra. He also anchors four sports segments each weekday on 95.3 FM KTIK and one on News/Talk KBOI. His Scott Slant column runs every Wednesday.)
