“There is no clear definition of what is most valuable”, says the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA), the entity responsible for giving the MVP award to the most valuable player in a season in the Major Leagues. But beyond that statement, there are some players whose performances speak for themselves to win this award.
Miguel Cabrera is precisely one of them, and the reason is more than logical (for some). His performances in the 2012 campaign were not only limited to the wonderful contribution of wood for a few months, but he also has the ability and talent needed to repeat it next year. How many players today can maintain such a high level for consecutive seasons in the Majors?
In fact, in the history of the best baseball in the world there have been great players who have won the MVP award on multiple occasions and together, there is no doubt about that. But if we look back to the recent past, the most recent name to shine with a Triple Crown and two consecutive MVP awards is Miguel Cabrera.
2012: Triple Crown, World Series and a perfect season
There is no doubt that the 2012 season was the most remarkable for Maracayero, as he exceeded most of his personal offensive limits. And yes, of course he ended up winning the Triple Crown, but more importantly, he led the Detroit Tigers to a World Series, six years after his last performance against the St. Louis Cardinals.
On Miggy’s path during this harvest there are many feats to highlight. On April 27, he reached 1,000 RBIs in his short career in the Majors, thus becoming the youngest player (29 years old) to achieve such a record behind Alex RodrÃguez. Then, on July 22, he became the second Venezuelan to reach 300 home runs in the MLB.
For August, it added a couple of historical milestones. In the 14th he drove in his 100th run of the season and thus had nine consecutive campaigns with more than 100 RBI before turning 30. This is how he became part of a list that includes names like Mel Ott, Jimmie Foxx, Al Simmons, Albert Pujols and Alex RodrÃguez.
The next day, the 15th, he hit his 30th home run of the season and thus marked his eighth hit in that number before he was 30 years old. On the all-time Majors list, he is surpassed only by Eddie Mathews, Jimmie Foxx, Albert Pujols and Alex RodrÃguez, who amassed nine seasons with that number of homers before turning thirty.
As many will remember, Detroit swept the Oakland Athletics (3-2 series) and the New York Yankees (4-0) en route to the Playoffs, before being swept in the World Series by the San Francisco Giants. However, the fact that he lost the most important collective title of the year did not cost Miggy to raise his MVP trophy.
And on November 15, Cabrera was named the American League Most Valuable Player by Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Angels, after receiving 22 of 28 first-place votes and 362 points from the Writers Association panel of Baseball of America. Their numbers reflect this.
The Venezuelan at that time left an offensive line of .330/.393/.606/.999 in 161 games, with 40 doubles, 44 home runs, 109 runs scored, 139 RBIs, four steals base, 66 walks, 98 strikeouts, and 205 hits in 622 at-bats.
Repeating an MVP award is difficult enough, but doing it in consecutive seasons is even more complicated, and that is something the American League has not seen since Frank Thomas’ 1993 and 1994 campaigns. In 2013, the famous players of the Old People already spoke amazingly about Cabrera, like Al Kaline who said that Creole’s performances were “unbelievable” and that he already qualified for Cooperstown himself.
With his extreme intensity, he gathered numbers that were ahead of the pace he established last season, especially during the All-Star break. In fact, he became the first player in Major League history to reach 30 home runs and 90 RBIs in the first half of the season.
In that campaign, Detroit again defeated Oakland in the Division Series (3-2), but failed to defeat the Boston Red Sox in the Championship Series (4-2). Although the champion ring with Tigres eluded Maracayero again, in the middle of November he achieved what few could imagine.
Cabrera, who just this time dominated the hitting percentage category, earned his second MVP award, this time receiving 23 out of 30 first-place votes and 385 points. Added to this is the fact that he became the third Detroit Tigers player to win the MVP more than once, joining Hank Greenberg (1935 and 1940) and Hal Newhouser (1944 and 1945).
As for his numbers, he left an offensive line of .348/.442/.636/1.078 in 148 games, with 26 doubles, one triple, 44 home runs, 103 runs scored, 137 RBIs, three stolen bases, 90 walks, 94 strikeouts and 193 hits in 555 plate appearances.
