Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of cricket batsmen, and baseball hitters. The two statistics are related in that baseball averages are directly descended from the concept of cricket averages.^[1]

Cricket[link]

International cricket career batting averages (Jan 2004). Note Bradman's Test average of 99.94.

In cricket, a player's batting average is the total number of runs he has scored divided by the number of times he has been out. Since the number of runs a player scores and how often he gets out are primarily measures of his own playing ability, and largely independent of his team mates, batting average is a good metric for an individual player's skill as a batsman. The number is also simple to interpret intuitively, being approximately the average number of runs the batsman scores per innings. Batting average has been used to gauge cricket players' relative skills since the 18th century.

Most players have career batting averages in the range of 20 to 40. This is also the desirable range for wicket-keepers, though some fall short and make up for it with keeping skill. Until a substantial increase in scores in the 21st century due to improved bats and smaller grounds among other factors, players who sustained an average above 50 through a career were considered exceptional, and before the development of the heavy roller in the 1870s an average of 25 was considered very good.^[2]

• All-rounders who are more prominent bowlers than batsmen typically average something between 20 and 30.
• 15 and under is typical for specialist bowlers.
• A small number of “rabbits” have averaged less than 5.00 for a complete career, though a player with such an average is a liability unless an exceptional bowler as Alf Valentine or B.S. Chandrasekhar were.

Career records for batting average are usually subject to a minimum qualification of 20 innings played, in order to exclude batsmen who have not played enough games for their skill to be reliably assessed. Under this qualification, the highest Test batting average belongs to Australia's Sir Donald Bradman, with 99.94. Given that a career batting average over 50 is exceptional, and that only four other players have averages over 60 (and only one over 61), this is an outstanding statistic. The fact that Bradman's average is so far above that of any other cricketer has led several statisticians to argue that, statistically at least, he was the greatest sportsman in any sport.^[3]

Batting averages in One Day International (ODI) cricket tend to be lower than in Test cricket, because of the need to score runs more quickly and take riskier strokes and the lesser emphasis on building a large innings. It should also be remembered, especially in relation to the ODI histogram above, that there were no ODI competitions when Bradman played.

Batting averages are affected by the number of not-outs (innings in which the batsman has not been dismissed). For example Phil Tufnell, who was noted for his poor batting,^[4] has an apparently respectable ODI average of 15 (from 20 games), despite a highest score of only 5 not out, and an overall run total of 15.

A different, and more recently developed, statistic which is also used to gauge the effectiveness of batsmen is the strike rate. It measures a different concept however – how quickly the batsman scores (number of runs from 100 balls) – so it does not supplant the role of batting average. It is used particularly in limited overs matches, where the speed at which a batsman scores is more important than it is in first-class cricket.

Leading Test batting averages ranked in order of average[link]

(Source: Cricinfo Statsguru 20 January 2012)

Rank	Batsman	Tests	Innings	N.O.	Runs	Highest	Ave[5]	Career dates
1	D.G. Bradman	52	80	10	6996	334	99.94	1928–1948
2	R.G. Pollock	23	41	4	2256	274	60.97	1963–1970
3	G.A. Headley	22	40	4	2190	270*	60.83	1930–1954
4	H. Sutcliffe	54	84	9	4555	194	60.73	1924–1935
5	E. Paynter	20	31	5	1540	243	59.23	1931–1939
6	K.F. Barrington	82	131	15	6806	256	58.67	1955–1968
7	E.D. Weekes	48	81	5	4455	207	58.61	1948–1958
8	W.R. Hammond	85	140	16	7249	336*	58.45	1927–1947
9	G.S. Sobers	93	160	21	8032	365*	57.78	1954–1974
10	JH Kallis	150	254	39	12260	211	57.02	1995–Present

Table shows players with at least 20 innings completed. If the qualification is removed, the highest career batting average list is topped by Andy Ganteaume, who scored 112 in his only Test innings.^[6]

• denotes not out.

For more comprehensive statistics, see List of cricket batting averages.

Major League Baseball[link]

In baseball, the batting average (BA) is defined as the number of hits divided by at bats.

Henry Chadwick, an English statistician raised on cricket, was an influential figure in the early history of baseball. In the late 19th century he adapted the concept behind the cricket batting average to devise a similar statistic for baseball. Rather than simply copy cricket's formulation of runs scored divided by outs, he realised that hits divided by at bats would provide a better measure of individual batting ability. This is due to the fact that while in cricket, scoring runs is almost entirely dependent on one's own batting skill, in baseball it is largely dependent on having other good hitters on one's team. Chadwick noted that hits are independent of teammates' skills, so used this as the basis for the baseball batting average. His reason for using at bats rather than outs is less obvious, but it leads to the intuitive idea of the batting average being a percentage reflecting how often a batter gets on base, whereas hits divided by outs is not as simple to interpret in real terms.

In modern times, a season batting average higher than .300 is considered to be excellent, and an average higher than .400 a nearly unachievable goal. The last player to do so, with enough plate appearances to qualify for the batting championship, was Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox, who hit .406 in 1941, though the best modern players either threaten to or actually do achieve it occasionally, if only for brief periods of time. There have been numerous attempts to explain the disappearance of the .400 hitter, with one of the more rigorous discussions of this question appearing in Stephen Jay Gould's 1996 book Full House.

Ty Cobb holds the record for highest career batting average with .366, 8 points higher than Rogers Hornsby who has the second highest average in history at .358. The record for lowest career batting average for a player with more than 2,500 at-bats belongs to Bill Bergen, a catcher who played from 1901 to 1911 and recorded a .170 average in 3,028 career at-bats. The modern-era record for highest batting average for a season is held by Napoleon Lajoie, who hit .426 in 1901, the first year of play for the American League. The modern-era record for lowest batting average for a player that qualified for the batting title is held by Rob Deer, who hit .179 in 1991. While finishing six plate appearances short of qualifying for the batting title, Adam Dunn of the Chicago White Sox hit .159 for the 2011 season, twenty points (and 11.2%) lower than the record. The highest batting average for a rookie was .408 in 1911 by Shoeless Joe Jackson.

For non-pitchers, a batting average below .230 is often considered poor, and one below .200 is completely unacceptable. This latter level is known as "The Mendoza Line", named for Mario Mendoza, a stellar defensive shortstop who hit .215 during his Major League career. The league batting average in Major League Baseball for 2004 was just higher than .266, and the all-time league average is between .260 and .275.

Sabermetrics, the study of baseball statistics, considers batting average a weak measure of performance because it does not correlate as well as other measures to runs scored, thereby causing it to have little predictive value. Batting average does not take into account walks or power, whereas other statistics such as on-base percentage and slugging percentage have been specifically designed to measure such concepts. Adding these statistics together form a player's On-base plus slugging or "OPS". This is commonly seen as a much better, though not perfect, indicator of a player's overall batting ability as it is a measure of hitting for average, hitting for power and drawing bases on balls.

In 1887, Major League Baseball counted bases on balls as hits. The result of this was skyrocketed batting averages, including some near .500, and the experiment was abandoned the following season.

Qualifications for the batting title[link]

The Major League Baseball batting average championship (often referred to as "the batting title") is awarded annually to the player in each league who has the highest batting average. Ty Cobb holds the MLB (and American League) record for most batting titles, officially winning 11 in his pro career.^[1] The National League record of 8 batting titles is shared by Honus Wagner and Tony Gwynn. Most of Cobb's career and all of Wagner's career took place in what is known as the Dead-Ball Era, which was characterized by higher batting averages and much less power, whereas Gwynn's career took place in the Live-Ball Era.

To determine which players are eligible to win the batting title, the following conditions have been used over the sport’s history:^[7]

• Pre-1920 – A player generally had to appear in 100 or more games when the schedule was 154 games, and 90 games when the schedule was 140 games. An exception was made for Ty Cobb in 1914, who appeared in 98 games but had a big lead and was also a favorite of League President Ban Johnson.
• 1920–1949 – A player had to appear in 100 games to qualify in the National League; the AL used 100 games from 1920–1935, and 400 at-bats from 1936–1949. The NL was advised to adopt 400 at-bats for the 1945 season, but League President Ford Frick refused, feeling that 100 games should stand for the benefit of catchers and injured players. (Taffy Wright is often erroneously said to have been cheated out of the 1938 batting title; he batted .350 in exactly 100 games, with 263 ABs. Jimmie Foxx hit .349, in 149 games and 565 AB. But since the AL requirement that year was 400 at-bats, Foxx's batting title is undisputed.)
• 1950–1956 – A player needed 2.6 at bats per team game originally scheduled. (With the 154-game schedule of the time, that meant a rounded-off 400 at-bats.) From 1951–1954, if the player with the highest average in a league failed to meet the minimum at-bat requirement, the remaining at-bats until qualification (e.g., 5, if the player finished the season with 395 ABs) were hypothetically considered hitless at-bats; if his recalculated batting average still topped the league, he was awarded the title. This standard applied in the AL from 1936–1956.
• 1957 to the present – A player has needed 3.1 plate appearances per team game originally scheduled; thus, players were no longer penalized for walking so frequently, nor did they benefit from walking so rarely. (In 1954, for example, Ted Williams batted .345 but had only 386 ABs, while topping the AL with 136 walks. Williams thus lost the batting title to Cleveland’s Bobby Avila, who hit .341 in 555 ABs.) In the 154-game schedule, the required number of plate appearances was 477, and since the era of the 162-game schedule, the requisite number of PAs has been 502. (Adjustments to this 502 PA figure have been made during strike-shortened seasons, such as 1972, 1981, 1994, and 1995.)

From 1967 to the present, if the player with the highest average in a league fails to meet the minimum plate-appearance requirement, the remaining at-bats until qualification (e.g., 5 ABs, if the player finished the season with 497 plate appearances) are hypothetically considered hitless at-bats; if his recalculated batting average still tops the league, he is awarded the title. (This policy was invoked in 1981, securing Bill Madlock his third NL batting crown, and in 1996, when NL titlist Tony Gwynn finished the year with only 498 PAs.)

All-time leaders[link]

Other contexts[link]

Following from usage in cricket and baseball, batting average has come to be used for other statistical measures of performance and in the general usage on how a person did in a wide variety of actions.

An example is the Internet Archive, which uses the term in ranking downloads. Its "batting average" indicates the correlation between views of a description page of a downloadable item, and the number of actual downloads of the item. This avoids the effect of popular downloads by volume swamping potentially more focused and useful downloads, producing an arguably more useful ranking.

References[link]

Baseball portal

V. V. S. Laxman

Personal information
Full name	Vangipurapu Venkata Sai Laxman
Born	(1974-11-01) 1 November 1974 (age 37) Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India
Nickname	Very Very Special
Batting style	Right-handed
Bowling style	Right-arm off spin
International information
National side	India
Test debut (cap 209)	20 November 1996 v South Africa
Last Test	24 January 2012 v Australia
ODI debut (cap 112)	9 April 1998 v Zimbabwe
Last ODI	3 December 2006 v South Africa
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1992 – present	Hyderabad
2007, 2009	Lancashire (squad no. 5, 26)
2008–2010	Deccan Chargers
2011	Kochi Tuskers Kerala
Career statistics
Competition	Test	ODI	FC	LA
Matches	134	86	265	173
Runs scored	8,781	2,338	19,520	5,078
Batting average	45.97	30.76	51.50	34.54
100s/50s	17/56	6/10	54/97	9/28
Top score	281	131	353	131
Balls bowled	324	42	1,835	698
Wickets	2	0	22	8
Bowling average	63.00	–	34.27	68.50
5 wickets in innings	0	0	0	0
10 wickets in match	0	n/a	0	n/a
Best bowling	1/2	0/5	3/11	2/42
Catches/stumpings	135/–	39/–	274/1	74/–
Source: Cricinfo, 30 January 2012

Vangipurapu Venkata Sai Laxman  pronunciation (help·info) (born 1 November 1974), sometimes shortened to Venkatsai Laxman but generally known as V.V.S. Laxman, is an Indian cricketer. Laxman represents Hyderabad in domestic cricket and has played for Lancashire in English county cricket. Laxman is the great grand nephew of Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, former President of India. He was the captain of the Deccan Chargers team in the Indian Premier League in its first year before being replaced by Adam Gilchrist for the next year. In 2011, Laxman was awarded the Padma Shri award, India's fourth highest civilian award from the Government of India.

Laxman bats right-handed and occasionally bowls off-spin. He is noted for his superb timing and the ability to hit against the spin, reminiscent of his role model Mohammed Azharuddin. Laxman is particularly noted for the skilful use of his supple wrists, which allow him to flick the ball to various places, but usually through the leg side. This also helps in his catching, and he typically fields in the slips or in a bat pad position.

Laxman is noted most for his batting against Australia, in both tests and one day internationals. As of February 2010, he has scored 6 out of his 17 test hundreds, and 4 out of his 6 ODI hundreds against Australia. He has two double-centuries in tests, both of them against Australia: his personal best of 281 at Kolkata in 2000–01, and 200* at Feroz Shah Kotla in 2008–09.

Personal life[link]

Laxman was born into a Niyogi Brahmin family,^[1] in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh. Laxman's parents, Shantaram and Satyabhama are doctors.^[2] Laxman studied at Little Flower High School, Hyderabad. He then enrolled as a medical student but chose cricket over a career in medicine. He married G. R. Sailaja from Guntur, who is a post-graduate in computer applications on 16 February 2004.^[2] They have two children Son Sarvajit and daughter Achinta

Playing style[link]

Laxman is known for his "wristy, willowy and sinuous" style, one which is technically fluid at its best. Laxman's on-side playing capability is comparable with his idol Mohammed Azharuddin's. The Australians once admitted that they did not know where to bowl to him.^[3]

Career[link]

Early career[link]

Laxman made his Test debut in 1996 against South Africa at Ahmedabad, scoring a fifty in the second innings of the match. However, he was unable to cement his place in a star-studded Indian middle order. Instead, he was asked to open the innings, starting in South Africa in 1997. Laxman intermittently continued in this role for nearly three years, but without any consistent success. In January 2000, he was picked up in the Indian squad for the Australian tour and made 167 in the third and final test at Sydney, a rare high point for India in an otherwise disastrous tour. Despite this success against an attack containing both Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne, Laxman apparently decided that he would return to domestic cricket, rather than continue playing as opener, a role which he believed did not suit him. As a result, Laxman was out of the Test team for nearly a year. He was recalled in late 2000, and also found a spot in the side for the home series against Australia in 2001. Laxman is widely criticized as a slow runner between the wickets and he is one of the few players who have played 100 Tests but have never played in the Cricket World Cup.

Australia's tour of India (2001)[link]

Laxman's career changed dramatically in the home series against Australia. In the first Test at Mumbai, Laxman made 20 and 12, as the entire Indian batting line-up, with the exception of Sachin Tendulkar, capitulated, leading to a 10-wicket defeat. This was Australia's 16th consecutive Test win and extended their own world record. In the next Test, however, Laxman shot to fame with an extraordinary knock of 281 in the second innings (following on) against Australia at Eden Gardens, when under tremendous pressure and with Australia looking set for a crushing 17th win in a row, he broke Sunil Gavaskar's long standing Indian Test record score of 236*.^[4] This remained the highest ever by an Indian until it was eclipsed by Virender Sehwag's triple ton against Pakistan in Multan in March 2004. The innings also contributed to a record partnership of 376 with Rahul Dravid who made 180 and together they survived the whole 4th day. Laxman's performance was of enormous consequence: India had been on the brink of an innings defeat but went on to win the Test and the series, denying Steve Waugh conquest of the "final frontier". This was only the third time in the history of cricket that a team had managed to win a Test after being forced to follow on. It has become one of the most celebrated tales of Indian cricket, and the innings is ranked the sixth best Test innings ever by Wisden Cricketers' Almanack.^[5] At the time, the pitch was taking significant turn, and to negate Laxman's free scoring, Australian leg spinner Shane Warne pitched his deliveries into the footmarks outside leg stump. However, such was Laxman's play that he consistently drove the ball through long on for boundaries against the spin, something that is considered to be technically dangerous. When Warne attempted to stop Laxman from scoring by defensively stationing most of the fielders on the leg side (leg theory) and bowling outside leg stump, Laxman proceeded to skip down the pitch and drive Warne inside-out through the vacant off side, hitting through the line of a substantially turning ball. Warne later admitted that he was clueless as to how to stop Laxman.

Laxman then cemented his place both in the Test and one day teams for a few years. He has continued to perform well against Australia, especially during India's tour of Australia in 2003–04, in which he hit three ODI and two Test centuries. One of his centuries, his 148 in the second Test at Adelaide, came in a triple century partnership with Dravid. India won the Test, which was their first Test victory in Australia in two decades. His innings 178 at Sydney also came in a triple century partnership, on this occasion with Sachin Tendulkar. For this reason, Ian Chappell described him as Very Very Special Laxman.

Decline of form[link]

However, Laxman's form was on the decline since the series against Australia. Beginning with the series in Pakistan in 2004, Laxman had only^{[clarification needed]} Test centuries to his credit, with one coming against a weak Zimbabwe side. He struggled against his favourite opponents Australia in the home series in October–November 2004, although his 69 in the final Test at Mumbai helped India record a consolation victory. Laxman was dropped after scoring a duck in the first Test against England at Mumbai in March 2006. He regained his place for the tour of the West Indies in place of the injured Tendulkar, and made a hundred in the third Test. In ODI cricket, Laxman was left out persistently since Greg Chappell took over as coach in mid-2005, mainly on account of his slow ground fielding and running between the wickets; Laxman is a highly-regarded close-catching fielder in stationary positions but in ODIs, these positions are generally disused except for the opening phases of the match, and players otherwise have to patrol substantial spaces and retrieve balls. Another reason was a perception that his batting is too one paced for ODI cricket and that he lacks the ability to score at a high rate as required when the batting team has the momentum, or in the closing stages of the innings. This was despite his superb form in Australia and Pakistan in early 2004, when he made four centuries in 14 games, including three in a week in the VB Series in Australia.

Return to form[link]

In December 2005, Laxman helped India to victory against Sri Lanka with a fine century. In June 2006, Laxman again rescued India from a difficult position against the West Indies with a gritty century. In November 2006, he was selected in the test squad for India's tour of South Africa. In the first test in Johannesburg Laxman scored 73 in the second innings to help India claim a historic 123 run win. In the 2007 tour of England Laxman produced three good innings, two of which were half-centuries and a vital 39 that helped India draw the first test at Lords. He passed the 5000 run landmark in the first day of the final test.

After the tests he joined Lancashire as their overseas player in place of Brad Hodge. He played in five games of the county championship and showed glimpses of his sublime batting. In their final County Championship game of 2007, against Surrey at the Oval, Laxman scored a century in the second innings which Lancashire were chasing 489 to win. They just missed out by 25 runs and subsequently lost the Championship to Sussex. His performance for Lancashire was good with 380 runs scored in 5 matches at an average of 54.28 with 2 centuries and 2 half-centuries^[6]

In India's home series against Pakistan in 2007, V.V.S. Laxman once again showed his importance to the team with a disciplined batting performance in the 1st Test.^[7] He then followed that innings of 72 in the first test with 112 in the second test.^[8] This ensured his place on the tour of Australia which would be his 3rd to that country.

Laxman's good form was continued in the 2007/08 series against Australia with him scoring 109 against Australia on the second day of the controversial Sydney Test to put India back into the contest. It was his 12th hundred in Test matches, and his 5th against Australia. It was also his third consecutive century at SCG, giving him an average well above 90 at the venue. He followed this up with a gritty knock in Perth, assisted by Mahendra Singh Dhoni and RP Singh, which set India up to record a historic and unexpected victory at a ground on which previously no Asian team had won.

Laxman was supposed to replace Adam Voges for Nottinghamshire but this move was vetoed by the BCCI due to the fact that there are players from the rival Indian Cricket League playing for Nottinghamshire. Laxman also reached 6000 runs in the Sri Lankan series in August 2008.

During the Third Test against Australia at the Feroz Shah Kotla in Delhi in November 2008, Laxman scored an unbeaten 200 in the first innings with characteristic use of his wrists and flicks through the leg side. In the same innings, Gautam Gambhir scored 206, Laxman and Gambhir becoming the first pair of batsmen to score double-centuries in the same innings for India, and the first to do so against Australia.^[9] He made an unbeaten 59 in the second innings and was named man of the match.

In 2009, Laxman continues to be in top form. He had scored 76 and 124 in the 2nd Test at Napier in New Zealand. In 2010, in a Test match against South Africa held in Kolkata, he scored 143 in a record stand for the seventh wicket with MS Dhoni. He passed 7000 Test runs during the innings. The test was eventually won by India in the last 10 minutes of the match, which helped India draw the series and remain the world Number 1 team.

Laxman helped India to level the series with Sri Lanka in August 2010 when he hit 103 not out in the run-chase, resulting in a five-wicket win in the Third Test. He was awarded the Man of the Match.^[10]

In October, he once again turned around another match that appeared headed for a comfortable Australian victory, in the First Test in Mohali. Laxman was suffering with a back problem and needed Suresh Raina as his runner, and the Indians had collapsed to 124/8 in pursuit of 216. He and paceman Ishant Sharma put on 81 to take the score to 205 before Sharma fell. Last man Pragyan Ojha then managed to survive as the hosts completed a one-wicket win. Laxman ended on 73 not out. He also helped India recover from 15/5 against New Zealand in Ahmedabad in 2010 and the match was drawn. Once again he helped India to a historic win at Durban. India were struggling at 94–5 when he and M.S. Dhoni put on a little partnership. He played intensely with the tail to help India get a lead of 302. He was awarded the Man of the Match for his match-winning 96.

Quotes[link]

"If you get Dravid, great. If you get Sachin, brilliant. If you get Laxman, it's a miracle." Brett Lee repeats the words of wisdom of his former captain, Steve Waugh 27 Sep 2004.^[11]

Achievements[link]

Batting Achievements[link]

Test Cricket[link]

Man-of-the-match awards (Test matches)[link]

Man-of-the-series awards (Test match series)[link]

ODI performance[link]

Man-of-the-match awards (ODIs)[link]

Other Batting Achievements[link]

• He is one of the few cricketers to score the most number of centuries(3) in a single ODI series.^[16]

Fielding Achievements[link]

• He has the record of taking the most number of catches(12) by a non-wicketkeeper in an single ODI series. He shares this record with Allan Border.^[17]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: V. V. S. Laxman

• Cricinfo Player Profile: V V S Laxman
• 2 Innings of V V S Laxman in Wisden top 100 Test innings

Miguel Cabrera
Cabrera in a game against the Los Angeles Dodgers in June 2011.
Detroit Tigers – No. 24
Third Baseman / First Baseman
Born: (1983-04-18) April 18, 1983 (age 29) Maracay, Venezuela
Bats: Right	Throws: Right
MLB debut
June 20, 2003 for the Florida Marlins
Career statistics (through May 27, 2012)
Batting average	.317
Hits	1,656
Home runs	286
Runs batted in	1,024
On base percentage	.394
Slugging percentage	.554
Teams
Florida Marlins (2003–2007) Detroit Tigers (2008–present)
Career highlights and awards
3× Silver Slugger Award Winner (2005, 2006, 2010) 6× All-Star (2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2010, 2011) World Series Champion (2003) AL Home Run Champion (2008) AL RBI Champion (2010) AL Batting Champion (2011) 2× Luis Aparicio Award Winner (2005, 2011)

José Miguel Cabrera Torres (born April 18, 1983) commonly known as Miguel Cabrera, and nicknamed "Miggy", or "Cabby", is a Venezuelan professional baseball third baseman with the Detroit Tigers of Major League Baseball. He bats and throws right-handed.

He is a six-time All-Star, having been selected to the National League All-Star Team in 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007, and also the American League All-Star Team in 2010 and 2011. Cabrera has started at least 100 games at first base, third base, left field and right field.^[1] He progressed through the Florida Marlins minor-league system, before being called up from the Double-A Carolina Mudcats in June 2003. Cabrera went on to provide boost needed to help the Florida Marlins win the World Series that year as their clean-up hitter.

Cabrera is widely considered to be one of the best pure hitters in baseball, hitting at a high average with power to all fields. He has posted at least 30 home runs in seven of his previous eight seasons while batting .320 during that period. Cabrera has also driven in over 100 runs every season aside from his rookie campaign when he played in only 87 games. He has been an MVP caliber player since entering the majors at just 20 years old, having received MVP votes in each of his nine major league seasons, and placing in the top five in the previous three. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim starting pitcher Dan Haren is quoted saying, "You're going to make good pitches, and [Cabrera] is going to hit them."

Early life[link]

Cabrera was born on April 18, 1983 in Maracay, Aragua State, Venezuela to parents Miguel and Gregoria.

Minor leagues[link]

Miguel began to rise through the Marlins' farm system teaming with future major leaguers Adrian Gonzalez and Dontrelle Willis. He began his professional career as a six-foot-two-inch 185 pound shortstop in the Gulf Coast League. Although he had below average speed, he had a rocket arm, above average plate discipline, and a thorough knowledge of the game. After batting .260 with 10 doubles, 2 triples and 2 home runs through 57 games, Cabrera was promoted to Class-A ball where he finished the final 8 games batting .250 with 6 RBIs.

Heading into 2001, the Marlins bumped Cabrera up to the Low Class-A Kane County Cougars where he teamed up with current Boston Red Sox first baseman Adrian Gonzalez. He got off to a rocky start to begin the season, but was able to improve his average to .279 by mid-season, and earned his way into the Futures Game during All-Star Weekend in Seattle, along with Gonzalez. Fighting a sore lower back, Cabrera went hitless in the showing. He ended the year batting .268 with 30 extra-base hits, 66 RBIs, and distinguished himself as having the strongest arm in the Midwest League.

Entering the following season, Cabrera was once again promoted; this time to the Jupiter Hammerheads of the High Class-A Florida State League. At the request of then Marlins assistant manager, Ozzie Guillen, Cabrera made the transition from shortstop to third base. Willing to do whatever it took to reach the major leagues, Cabrera displayed no resistance to the move. While it took some time to make himself comfortable at his new position, he showed no slowing in the batter's box. By July, his average was locked in at .277, and he led his team with 45 RBIs earning himself a second trip to the Future's game; this time picking up two singles. He didn't lose his stride as he finished the season batting .278 with 43 doubles and 75 RBIs. Up to this point, his power had yet to reveal itself as he hit just 9 homers in his 489 at-bats.

To begin the 2003 season, Cabrera earned another promotion to the Double-A Carolina Mudcats. There he teamed up with Dontrelle Willis, the left-handed fireballer with whom he would later join in the majors. In his fourth professional season, Miguel was shredding up the competition. In April, he hit .402, and by June his average stood at .365 with 10 homers and 59 RBIs before being called up to the majors.

Major league career[link]

Florida Marlins[link]

2003: Rookie year[link]

Cabrera made his major league debut on June 20, 2003, at 20 years old; Edgar Rentería, at 19 years old, was the only Marlins player to make his debut at a younger age. Cabrera hit a walk-off home run in his first major league game, following Billy Parker in 1972 and Josh Bard in 2002 as the third player since 1900 to hit a game-winning home run in his big-league debut.

Cabrera became the Marlins' cleanup batter. Cabrera's postseason play helped propel Florida to a World Series championship over the Yankees and also landed him on the cover of ESPN The Magazine during the offseason.

In the NLDS against the Giants, Cabrera hit .286 with three RBI. After changing positions in the heat of the NLCS against the Cubs, he hit .333 with three homers and six RBI. In the World Series, Cabrera had the at bat that defined his postseason in Game Four. Facing Roger Clemens for the first time, Cabrera, who was only 20 years old at the time, got knocked down by a Roger Clemens inside fastball. Two pitches later, he belted the Clemens offering into the right field seats.

In his first season Cabrera batted .268 (84-for-314), with 12 Home Runs, 62 RBI, 39 runs, 21 doubles, and three triples in 87 games played.

2004[link]

In 2004, he proved that his rookie season was no fluke, batting .294 with 33 homers, 112 RBI, 101 runs, 177 hits, a .366 on base percentage, a .512 slugging percentage from the third and fourth spots in the order, while playing in 160 games and earning his first All-Star appearance.

Cabrera spent the whole 2004 season playing in the outfield, with no games at third base; he had 13 outfield assists. In 284 total fielding chances, he committed 9 errors (tied for the most among NL outfielders)^[2] and made 262 putouts.

2005[link]

In 2005 he came in second in the National League in hits with 198, and batted .323 with 33 homers, 43 doubles, 2 triples, and 116 RBIs. He was chosen to his second consecutive All-Star Game along with teammates Paul LoDuca and Dontrelle Willis, and won his first Silver Slugger award. His 33 home runs made him the youngest player in Major League Baseball history to hit back-to-back 30 homer seasons, at 22 years, 143 days. Albert Pujols of the Cardinals did it at 22 years, 223 days. Cabrera also became the first Florida Marlin in history to hit at least 30 home runs and bat in at least 100 runs in back-to-back seasons.

During the 2005 season, Carlos Delgado hit behind Cabrera. The Marlins traded Delgado to the New York Mets after the season as part of their organizationally-termed "market correction," obtaining first baseman Mike Jacobs, pitcher Yusmeiro Petit, and infielder Grant Psomas from the Mets.

2006[link]

With help from teammates Josh Willingham and Dan Uggla hitting behind and ahead of him respectively, Cabrera finished the year with a career-high .339 batting average, 26 home runs and 114 RBIs. He was selected to his third consecutive All-Star Game and won his second Silver Slugger.

On June 22, 2006, In what will go down as one of the most unique plays in baseball (as there are no records of it occurring before or since), pitcher Todd Williams let the first pitch of an attempted intentional walk get a little too close to the plate and Cabrera reached out and singled it to right center field. The hit occurred during 10th inning, scoring the winning run to give the Marlins a 6-5 lead over the Baltimore Orioles.^[3]

During a July 9 7–6 road loss to the Mets, Cabrera became involved in an altercation with teammate Scott Olsen. With the Marlins trailing 2–0, Mets catcher Paul Lo Duca hit a hard grounder that glanced off Cabrera's glove and rolled into left field, allowing a run to score as Lo Duca raced to second with a double. While the ball glanced off Cabrera's glove, Olsen seemed to believe that Cabrera did not give his full effort to get to the ball. As they came off the field, Olsen could be seen shouting something at Cabrera. A moment later, television cameras showed Cabrera in the crowded dugout reaching past teammates to poke his finger at Olsen as the pitcher walked past him. Olsen tried to jab back at Cabrera, who charged Olsen and tried to kick the pitcher before both players were quickly separated by teammates.^[4]

Cabrera battled the Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Freddy Sanchez for the National League batting crown until the last day of the regular season. Marlins manager Joe Girardi decided to bat Cabrera leadoff for the final game of the season to give him more chances to get a hit for the crown. He ended up finishing second to Sanchez. Cabrera also finished the 2006 campaign with a career-high .568 slugging percentage and a career-high .430 on base percentage.

2007[link]

Cabrera with the Marlins in 2007

On February 17, 2007, Cabrera became the first player of the 2007 offseason to win his arbitration hearing, obtaining a one-year contract worth $7.4 million.^[5]

Cabrera made his fourth consecutive All-Star game. He was initially scheduled to participate in the Home Run Derby during the All-Star weekend, but an injured left shoulder, suffered a few days before the All-Star break, forced him out of the derby and limited him in the All-Star game to a pinch hit at-bat against Dan Haren in which he struck out.

On September 4, 2007, Cabrera batted in his 500th run as a major leaguer, making him the third-youngest player to accumulate 500 RBI. Hall of Famers Mel Ott and Ted Williams were the only players to precede him in this feat.^[6]

On September 15, 2007, at Coors Field in Denver, Colorado, Cabrera drove in at least 100 runs for the fourth consecutive year. His 100th RBI came in the first inning against Ubaldo Jimenez. Five innings later, Cabrera added four more RBI when he hit a ball 438 feet (134 m) into the center field trees for his first career grand slam.^[7] He joined David Ortiz, Alex Rodriguez, Albert Pujols, Mark Teixeira and Vladimir Guerrero as the only players to reach the 100-RBI plateau in each of the four previous seasons.^[8]

In 2007, Cabrera won the NL Player of the Week twice (April 1–8 and June 4–10). He also passed former Marlins Gary Sheffield and Derrek Lee for second on the franchise home run list. He moved into third in all-time franchise RBI and first in batting average. Cabrera ended the season with career highs in both home runs and runs batted in.

Detroit Tigers[link]

On December 5, 2007, the Marlins traded Cabrera and starting pitcher Dontrelle Willis to the Detroit Tigers for pitchers Andrew Miller, Dallas Trahern, Eulogio De La Cruz and Burke Badenhop, outfielder Cameron Maybin, and catcher Mike Rabelo.^[9]

On March 22, 2008 Cabrera reached an agreement with the Tigers on an eight-year, $185.3 million contract extension. At the time, the deal was the fourth-largest in baseball history, behind those signed by Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, and Manny Ramirez.^[10] The deal is also the 2nd largest in Tigers history, surpassing the five-year, $75 million contract signed by Magglio Ordóñez in 2005, but less than the 9 year $214 million dollar deal signed by Prince Fielder. Cabrera earned $11.3 million in 2008, and will receive an average of $20 million per year through 2015.

2008[link]

Cabrera playing for the Tigers in 2009.

Cabrera made his Tigers debut on March 31, 2008, playing third base in a home game against the Kansas City Royals. In his third at-bat, he hit a solo home run off Royals pitcher Gil Meche. He finished the game 1-for-5 with two strikeouts, and the Tigers lost 5–4 in 11 innings.^[11]

On April 22, manager Jim Leyland announced that Cabrera would be moving to first base, with Carlos Guillen becoming the starting second basemen, and Brandon Inge going back to third. Cabrera had already made seven appearances at first, the first appearances at the position of his career.^[12]

Cabrera was named the AL Player of the Month for July after batting .330 with 8 home runs and 31 RBI.^[13]

On September 7, Cabrera reached the 1,000-hit plateau on a home run off Twins pitcher Glen Perkins.^[14]

Cabrera finished the 2008 season with a career-high 37 home runs, which led the American League.^[15] He became the youngest AL home run champion since Troy Glaus in 2000.^[16] He also established a new career high in RBI (127).^[17] He became one of only five players who have driven in at least 100 runs in each the past five seasons, joining Alex Rodriguez, Albert Pujols, David Ortiz, Bobby Abreu and Mark Teixeira.

2009[link]

Cabrera was selected to play for Venezuela at the 2009 World Baseball Classic, along with Tigers teammates Magglio Ordóñez, Carlos Guillén, and Armando Galarraga.

On Opening Day, Cabrera hit a grand slam in left-center that traveled better than 420 feet (130 m) at Comerica Park to give the Detroit Tigers a convincing 15–2 victory over the Texas Rangers. Cabrera finished the game 4 for 6 with 6 RBI.

On August 23, 2009 Cabrera hit his 200th career home run in his 1,000th career game against the Oakland A's. He became only the 4th Venezuelan player to ever reach that plateau.

Cabrera posted a .324 batting average, which was 4th in the AL. He also tied his career-high in hits with 198, which was also 4th among the AL. He also had yet another 100+ RBI season making it the 6th straight year for him to reach the 100 RBI mark.

2010[link]

On May 28 in a game against the Oakland Athletics in Detroit, Cabrera hit three home runs in a 5–4 Tigers loss. Two of the home runs were against starter Ben Sheets, and one against closer Andrew Bailey. It was the first three home run game in Cabrera's career, and came in his first game returning to the team after his daughter's birth.

Cabrera was named an AL All-Star for the first time since joining the American League, and the 5th time in his seven year career. He was chosen to be the starter in place of Minnesota Twins star Justin Morneau who was suffering a concussion

On September 26 in a game against the Cleveland Indians Cabrera suffered a high ankle sprain while getting back to first base on a pick-off attempt. He initially tried to play, but the Tigers decided to shut him down for the remainder of the season. He ended his 2010 season with a .328 batting average, a career-high 38 HRs and 126 RBIs. The lack of a strong #5 hitter to follow Cabrera in the Tigers lineup also resulted in him drawing a career-high 89 walks, 32 of which were intentional. On defense, he led all AL first basemen in errors, with 13.^[18]

2011[link]

Cabrera was named to his second AL All-Star team as a reserve. It was his sixth All-Star Game appearance overall. On July 15, 2011, the first game after the All-Star break, Cabrera collected his 1500th career hit in a game against the Chicago White Sox.^[19] Cabrera hit for a .344 average, winning the AL batting title, while also leading the AL in on-base percentage (.448) and doubles (48). He had his eighth straight 100-RBI season (105) and fifth straight 30-HR season (30). Despite having better lineup protection than in years past (with Víctor Martínez hitting behind him), he reached a career-high in walks with 108. On defense, Cabrera led all AL first basemen in errors, with 13.^[18]

Cabrera hit .429 with 6 home runs and 21 RBI in September 2011, propelling the Tigers into the playoffs and eventually the American League Championship Series. In the first five games of the ALCS, Cabrera managed an incredible .565 OBP, as well as a home run and four doubles, one of them off of the third base bag.

Through 2011, he had the 6th-best career batting average of all active players (.317), and 7th-best slugging percentage (.555) and OPS (.950).^[20]

2012[link]

In 2012, after the signing of first baseman Prince Fielder, the Tigers announced Cabrera will move back to third base.^[21] In a pre-season game with the Philadelphia Phillies, Cabrera was struck by a ground ball below the right eye, which broke a bone. Despite this, after seeing team eye surgeon, Dr. Srinivas Iyengar, Cabrera believed he would be ready for opening day on April 5.[4] He was, and was in the starting lineup on Opening Day.

On April 7, both he and new teammate Prince Fielder hit 2 home runs against the Red Sox, including back-to-back ones in the 5th inning. Cabrera's first home run was a 2-run home run, while his second one was called a double initially, but was overturned and became a home run. The Tigers went on to win 10–0.^[22]

That week, from April 4–8, Cabrera was named AL Player of the Week, his ninth time achieving that honor, five of them being with Detroit. Cabrera hit 5-11 in 3 games over that span with 3 home runs and 8 RBI. At the time, his 14 total bases were tied for best in the MLB.^[23]

On April 27, Cabrera collected his 1,000th RBI against the New York Yankees. He is one of the few players in league history to reach this plateau before their 30th birthday, joining the likes of Hank Aaron, Albert Pujols, and Lou Gehrig.

Personal life[link]

Cabrera is both a Catholic and a practitioner of Santería. He became a babalao in the 2006 offseason.^[24] His wife is named Rosangel, and they have 2 daughters and 1 son, born August 2011.^[25] Cabrera and his family currently live in Birmingham, Michigan.^[26]

In the early morning of October 3, 2009, police were called to the Cabreras' home and took Cabrera in for questioning. Cabrera had come home at 6:00am, after a night of drinking at the nearby Townsend Hotel, and got in an argument with his wife. He was seen later that day at a game at Comerica Park, with scratches on his face. Cabrera told reporters that the scratches came from his dog and refused to discuss the matter further.^[27] It was later reported he had a blood alcohol level of .26, three times the legal limit, when tested at the police station. Dave Dombrowski, the general manager of the Tigers, picked him up from the police station around 7:30am—eleven and a half hours before that evening's game in which he went 0–4 with one strikeout and six runners left on base against the Chicago White Sox.^[28]

On January 21, 2010, it was reported that Cabrera spent three months in an alcohol abuse treatment center to help him recover from his addiction. He said at the time he had not drunk alcohol since he was taken into custody in October, 2009, and that he would continue his treatment into spring training and the regular season.^[29]

Television station WXYZ had obtained a police report from an alleged incident the preceding August, in which Cabrera was involved in a verbal altercation with diners at a restaurant inside the Townsend.^[30] Witnesses say Cabrera threatened to fight the group outside and indicated that he had a gun. Restaurant employees asked Cabrera to leave and police were called. There was no weapon in Cabrera's vehicle and Cabrera told team officials he did not own one. Cabrera then told team officials he had been dealing with personal issues and got upset, and the diners ended up dropping the matter.^[31]

Cabrera was arrested in Florida on suspicion for drunk driving and resisting arrest on February 16, 2011.^[32]

See also[link]

	Biography portal
	Baseball portal

• List of Major League Baseball home run champions
• 2003 World Series
• Tigres de Aragua
• List of top 300 Major League Baseball home run hitters

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Miguel Cabrera

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)
• Miguel Cabrera: Profile on the Fish@Bat Florida Marlins Wiki
• uniform number updates