LAKELAND, Fla. -- With his Triple Crown, two American League Most Valuable Player Awards and 462 career home runs, Miguel Cabrera could retire today and be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
"I don't know," a grinning Cabrera said the other day. "You're voting for me, yes?"
Well, let's see. Cabrera's .317 lifetime batting average ranks sixth all time among players with at least 450 home runs. The only players ahead of him: Ted Williams, Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Stan Musial and Jimmie Foxx.
Put another way: Among all right-handed hitters with 450 home runs, only Foxx has a higher batting average than Cabrera.