The debate over whether professional athletes are held to a different standard in the court system has often been a contentious point for sports fans. With the pressures that come with multi-million dollar contracts and clock-ticking careers comes the ever-present threat that the public is watching your every move.
In the 24-hour news craving society we live in, the coverage of the story tends to outweigh the details. If Denny McLain’s foot injury had happened in this decade, one can imagine how everyone from CNN to the Bleacher Report would be speculating the circumstances. Miguel Cabrera has a number of years remaining in his deal with the Tigers, and if he doesn’t grow up soon off the field, he may be destined to be another dead weight contract for the Tigers.
48 hours after Cabrera found himself picked up at a Birmingham jail by Dave Dombrowski, the details have begun to flow about the first baseman’s off-field issues. I personally have two issues with what has happened myself – 1) it’s one thing to be out late, but in the most meaningful games of the season? 2) He was out on the town with members of the Chicago White Sox. This even happened to come within hours of Jake Peavy mowing the Tigers down on five-days rest for an 8-0 win. If this is outside of the season, or a different team, I wouldn’t mind as much – but these were the CHICAGO WHITE SOX! At least members of the Wings aren’t partying out with Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane before Game 6 of the playoffs!
No matter what your position is on this, the biggest question to most has spawned from his 5-26 outing during the final, most critical homestand. Now, he will have to live up to heckling and taunts to a greater extend in Tuesday’s game at the Metrodome. During a recent radio show, former player and manager Buck Martinez, continued to reiterate that you “respect the loss” – the idea that losses are not to be celebrated for individual accomplishments, instead you get angry about what happened and you move on to play better the next game. Cabrera, in the middle of a pennant race, decided that the Birmingham nightlife would be the best way to prepare for the final two games of the season – and he has the marks to prove it.
