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Cabrera has used up all this slack. From this point forward he should be dealt with harshly
Tigers slugger Miguel Cabrera has more than just a drinking problem.
There is little doubt drinking has contributed to it, but there is a menacing side to him, which has come out in multiple public incidents.
- Getting into a confrontation with a 15-year-old in the restaurant at Birmingham hotel after mocking the kid for being overweight.
- His wife calling 911 in fear of her safety.
- Walking into a bar and grill in Florida after hours and threatening to kill patrons and employees because they wouldn't serve him.
- Getting into a physical confrontation with police when they pulled up to him at the side of the road when his vehicle was broken down and he smelled of liquor.
Twice he has allegedly threatened to go out to his car and get a gun, a pattern that not only may put others in danger, but Cabrera himself, if there are those who feel threatened and compelled to defend themselves.
It's more than just another case of a coddled athlete. Cabrera has taken it to an extreme.
"Do you know who I am" is one of his favorite lines. During three different incidents, it has been reported by people when they've seen Cabrera exhibit aggressive behavior.
I'm among those who view alcoholism as a disease, and do have sympathy for his struggle in that regard.
But these type of incidents are of the lack-of-character variety. Threatening people in such a sinister fashion is reprehensible and simply not accepted behavior in our society.
I've been warning people, the best I could, for a long time that there are some issues with Cabrera. But this is beyond even what I have been hearing for several years from people within baseball.
I don't think the Tigers should bench him or suspend him. The DUI is his first. He's threatened people, but no evidence he has acted on such threats.
But the slack should be gone. Next time there is an incident like this involving Cabrera, enough warnings - he should be dealt with harshly. By baseball. By the Tigers. And by fans, who tend to forgive and forget very quickly when the player involved is a Hall of Fame-caliber hitter and helping their favorite team to win ball games.
Random Thoughts
- The most important job in the Tigers organization know belongs to Raul Gonzalez, the baby sitter that has been assigned to make sure Cabrera behaves.
- I defended Jim Harbaugh vigorously in his verbal snit with former Michigan players Mike Hart and Jamie Morris, and ex-Michigan coach Lloyd Carr, over comments Harbaugh made over Michigan having an academic agenda designed to help athletes academically. Most big-time athletic programs do - Michigan, too. I thought Harbaugh was stating merely that Stanford was different, which a lot of people thought. Turns out it has been no different, and Harbaugh was wrong to make his comments. Stanford was called out by study from the California Watch, an investigating reporting group, making Harbaugh look like a phony.
There is little doubt drinking has contributed to it, but there is a menacing side to him, which has come out in multiple public incidents.
- Getting into a confrontation with a 15-year-old in the restaurant at Birmingham hotel after mocking the kid for being overweight.
- His wife calling 911 in fear of her safety.
- Walking into a bar and grill in Florida after hours and threatening to kill patrons and employees because they wouldn't serve him.
- Getting into a physical confrontation with police when they pulled up to him at the side of the road when his vehicle was broken down and he smelled of liquor.
Twice he has allegedly threatened to go out to his car and get a gun, a pattern that not only may put others in danger, but Cabrera himself, if there are those who feel threatened and compelled to defend themselves.
It's more than just another case of a coddled athlete. Cabrera has taken it to an extreme.
"Do you know who I am" is one of his favorite lines. During three different incidents, it has been reported by people when they've seen Cabrera exhibit aggressive behavior.
I'm among those who view alcoholism as a disease, and do have sympathy for his struggle in that regard.
But these type of incidents are of the lack-of-character variety. Threatening people in such a sinister fashion is reprehensible and simply not accepted behavior in our society.
I've been warning people, the best I could, for a long time that there are some issues with Cabrera. But this is beyond even what I have been hearing for several years from people within baseball.
I don't think the Tigers should bench him or suspend him. The DUI is his first. He's threatened people, but no evidence he has acted on such threats.
But the slack should be gone. Next time there is an incident like this involving Cabrera, enough warnings - he should be dealt with harshly. By baseball. By the Tigers. And by fans, who tend to forgive and forget very quickly when the player involved is a Hall of Fame-caliber hitter and helping their favorite team to win ball games.
Random Thoughts
- The most important job in the Tigers organization know belongs to Raul Gonzalez, the baby sitter that has been assigned to make sure Cabrera behaves.
- I defended Jim Harbaugh vigorously in his verbal snit with former Michigan players Mike Hart and Jamie Morris, and ex-Michigan coach Lloyd Carr, over comments Harbaugh made over Michigan having an academic agenda designed to help athletes academically. Most big-time athletic programs do - Michigan, too. I thought Harbaugh was stating merely that Stanford was different, which a lot of people thought. Turns out it has been no different, and Harbaugh was wrong to make his comments. Stanford was called out by study from the California Watch, an investigating reporting group, making Harbaugh look like a phony.
posted by Pat Caputo at
12:24 PM
10 Comments:
Hey Pat!
After reading these new details, do you still stand by your previous post that he should be on a baseball field right now? Also,you said that you have warned us about the "issues" of Cabrera- are you just referring to his drinking/ nightlife issues? Because I think a lot of people knew about that even when he was with the Marlins.
Book,
The Tigers are going to get seriously burned by the time this Cabrera saga is over. By all accounts, he has put on significant weight to go along with his other troubles. He is not performing well in Lakeland, either. I don't know what the organization can do now, I kind of think they waited too late by sweeping his previous behavior under the rug.
As a fan, I wasn't too happy with the 2010 proposed lineup anyway. Too many so-so, run-of-the-mill regulars like Raburn, Sizemore, Inge, aging Ordonez, Boesch, Avila, etc. Now you have a troubled and in denial Cabrera. I wasn't convinced before Cabrera's troubles that they would be very good, now even less so. White Sox have better pitching and Twins have a much better lineup. But that's on the field. Cabrera's issues tend to overshadow all of that.
I have this nagging suspicion though, that Cabrera is a timebomb. I hope and pray that I am wrong.
Alan
Pat, I am real glad the car broke down because the way he was headed looks like nothing but trouble. Drinking is okay but getting behind the wheel when drunk is just plain dumb. I wish media and MLB would focus on that more because I never understood people spending $100 in a bar and get wasted and can’t spend another $10 or so for a taxis. People can have half a beer over the limit and be able drive normally but getting into accident whether their fault or not and someone gets seriously hurt or killed their screwed. Cabrera should go and campaign on how drinking and driving is the worst mistake you could make.
Jesse said...
I still think he should be playing. It makes him productive. I think the real danger is away from the game. In the NFL, the six weeks between the end of the off-season program and the start of training camp is when they worry most about players.
Caputo
Alan,
He is not going anywhere. The challenge for the Tigers is get production from him and protecting their investment, while at the same time helping him with his problems. We'll see if that is possible. Any more incidents and it may not be.
Caputo
Barry,
That's the worst part. I mean the guy makes $20 million per year. Cabrera certainly can afford to pay somebody to drive him in he is drinking.
Caputo
Pat, I don't agree that alcoholism is a disease but that is an argument for some other time.
I do agree that Cabrera's appalling arrogence and hostility are an extreme problem of character and separate from his problem with alcohol.
Let's hope that the Tiger's organization has given Cabrera a clear message that if he misbehaves one more time he will be fired.
Sadly, this probably won't happen. And sad for Tiger fans, based on his Spring training performance so far, Cabrera doesn't appear to be taking his baseball duties seriously either.
I agree with the ideas in the original article, and I also liked the clarity in the writing. I think the distinction between alcohol problems and behavior problems is pivotal. (And the word "sinister" and the phrase "not acceptable behavior" were both totally appropriate.)
It seems to me that Cabrera's got some sort of lust for melodrama and personal glorification that are the primary cause of these incidents, not his drinking. (I'm sure the alcohol intensifies things, but there's no way that's causing this sort of deliberate malice.)
Regardless of what's causing him to act in such a sadistic and criminal way, I believe that it's totally unacceptable and the dude should learn that he's extremely fortunate that he's not in a cage right now (I know that if he were an electrician or UAW guy he'd be in jail). Really, if you remember his wife's 911 call, that was some pretty horrific stuff right there.
My hope is that he wakes up and grows up really fast. But if there's another incident, I hope that he gets the book thrown at him and then some.
Lynn Benoit,
Cabrera has put the Tigers in a difficult spot. His behavior has clearly embarrassed the organization. They also need him badly if they want to contend this summer, and have had their trust him off the field violated. I don't see like a magic solution for the Tigers to this if Cabrera doesn't get his act together.
Caputo
David Brennan,
Yeah. The melodrama thing. Good word for it. Who would do that? There will be those who will say it was "just the alcohol talking." But he has repeated the same things over and over now, especially the "Do you know who I am?"
Caputo
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