DETROIT, MI – Where is the fanfare? Why is Miguel Cabrera’s pursuit of the MLB Triple Crown getting so little press? Every time a horse wins the first two legs of the horse racing triple crown, you hear nothing but the pursuit for it for the three weeks leading to the ultimate letdown at Belmont. This triple crown pursuit is like a secret. I find it even more surprising in that Cabrera would be the first Latin ballplayer to win the MLB Triple Crown.
I admit, Miguel is not the most charismatic player around and it would certainly be all over the news if Alex Rodriguez was the one chasing the crown, but c’mon. Coming into today’s action Cabrera either leads or is tied in all three triple crown categories: average, home runs and runs batted in.
There have been 13 MLB Triple Crown winners in what is considered the modern era of baseball. Two of these guys, though – Ty Cobb and Nap Lajoie – won them with pathetic dead ball era home run totals of 9 and 14, respectively. During the live ball era, there have been 11 winners and none since Carl Yastrzemski won during the Johnson Administration. Rogers Hornsby won a pair in the roaring 20’s while Ted Williams won a pair in the fightin’ 40’s. The weakest of all triple crown winners had to be Chuck Klein of the Phillies in 1933 since his home run and RBI total (28 and 120) weren’t even tops in Philadelphia, where Jimmie Foxx won the AL triple crown the same season with 20 more HR’s and 43 more RBI’s.
With the idea that Cabrera will win the MLB Triple Crown, let’s look at some comparisons between now and when Yaz wore the last Crown in 1967, which luckily was the year I was born:
Scariest Baby: 1967: “Rosemary’s Baby 2012”: “Snooki’s Baby” – Winner: 2012. Snooki’s Baby has to be the scariest thing ever.
Boston Strangler: 1967: Albert DeSalvo 2012: Bobby Valentine – Winner: 1967. DeSalvo got life for his crimes while Valentine will be let off with a tad lighter sentence.
Hoffa Happenings: 1967: Jimmy Hoffa sentenced to 8 years in prison 2012: Jimmy Hoffa remains supposedly being dug up in Detroit driveway. Winner: 2012. Hoffa was the biggest story this week out of Detroit, much bigger than Cabrera.
Top Pop Song: 1967: “To Sir With Love” by Lulu 2012: “Call Me Maybe” by Carly Rae Jepsen. Winner: 2012. Carly, Maybe?
U.S. War: 1967: Vietnam 2012: Afghanistan. Winner: 1967. Vietnam conflict at least gave us some good music.
San Francisco Drug Scene: 1967: Summer of Love 2012: Summer of Melky. Winner: 2012. Sex, Drugs and Baseball.
Stay tuned tomorrow for another product of 1967, Angry Ward.
