A Man on the Mend (One Sixty-Two: Day 42)

Writer’s note: One Sixty-Two is a season-long series of blog posts connecting baseball’s major-league players to life’s universal themes. Just as there are 162 games in a season, so there will be 162 posts in this series. Let’s play some ball.

Day Forty-Two: Miguel Cabrera, Detroit Tigers

It’s not often that a Detroit Tiger’s one-hitter becomes the most-discussed sports story in America. But that will happen when a perfect game is foiled by a missed call with two outs in the ninth inning. Armando Galarraga’s near-perfect game, umpire Jim Joyce’s erroneous safe call and emotional apology afterward, Commissioner Bud Selig’s refusal to change the call – all have been covered extensively over the past 24 hours. There are enough voices debating the merits of instant replay right now.

Instant replay on a limited scale might help clarify some missed calls, but the beauty of baseball continues with or without it. To me, the most extraordinary thing about last night’s controversial play was not Joyce’s call; it was, instead, the play of Tigers first baseman Miguel Cabrera. Some have criticized Cabrera for ranging so far to his right for the ball, rather than allowing the second baseman to field the play. But playing good defense in baseball requires a smart aggressiveness, and Cabrera showed just that – he pounced to his right, scooped up Jason Donald’s grounder, and made a clean toss to Galarraga. In making this play, Cabrera showed more than great defense; he showed us a man on the mend.

It was the first weekend of October, 2009, and the Detroit Tigers were in a battle for the divisional crown with their American League Central rival Minnesota Twins. Early on a Saturday morning, Miguel Cabrera had a much-publicized fight with his wife, in which police found both husband and wife with scratches and Cabrera with a very high blood-alcohol level. Cabrera was brought to a police station, and team general manager Dave Dombrowski drove there to pick him up. Later that day, Cabrera would go hitless as his team lost a critical game. By the end of the weekend the Tigers’ season was over, the Twins were on their way to the playoffs, and, while no charges had been filed against him, it was clear that Cabrera was a mess.

This spring, Cabrera explained that he had undergone counseling over the winter. He did not hide from his troubles. At 27 years of age and in his eighth season in the big leagues, Cabrera looked a bit like a man ready to grow up.

So to see Cabrera playing with such energy and passion last night was a most welcome sight – one that was clearly not present eight months ago. This afternoon, Cabrera was at it again, slugging his 16th home run – tied for the major-league lead – and driving in his 50th and 51st runs of the year. No one in baseball has driven in as many runs. With his batting average at .352, Cabrera is vying for both the Triple Crown and a Most Valuable Player award.

Nobody’s perfect in this life. Not Armando Galarraga. Not Jim Joyce. And definitely not Miguel Cabrera. But we can take steps forward. We can improve, recover, and make amends. It happens one step and one day at a time. Cabrera took a few steps to his right last night, fielded a tough ground ball, and looked like a new man.