Within hours of Miguel Cabrera’s DUI, the events that transpired had been posted by literally every major news outlet.
I am by no means claiming to know what demons Cabrera is facing or the reasoning that led to what happened that night.
Don’t get me wrong, I do not condone what Cabrera did. Being stopped and detained was, of course, the best possible scenario. This is the second known incident that has been brought to light in a short time and possibly not the last.
It’s very obvious there’s a problem. Maybe the root cause is due to his profession and the unrelenting pressure that is placed on many athletes in today’s society. No one can say for sure.
I try to use many personal experiences when I write my articles, and I can say with no bias that the pressure in baseball is enormous. Some can handle it and some cannot. Many show the telltale signs of stress and anxiety while many deal with it other ways.
I was never ever even close to having as much talent as any of today’s professional athletes, yet I had enough talent to play professionally and experience the joy and turmoil that comes with it.
My career in independent baseball will not register a blip on the radar of anyone unless they were there, still, for those who got on that rollercoaster ride at the time, that moment was our last chance or the only shot at the dream. The pressure was as great as any I have experienced.
So, I am not surprised when I hear of Cabrera or Josh Hamilton and their struggles, though it baffles me when I read reports that players are unfazed by their roles and the circumstances they are faced with during a 162-game season.
Professional athletes are undoubtedly playing on another level when compared to the everyday person or the weekend warrior who is still reliving his high school football days. Sometimes we forget that our sports figures are human.
How many examples of a breakdown do we need to witness on national television or publicized in the papers before we stop and think of what that person is going through.
In the June 21 issue of Sports Illustrated, Pablos S. Torre penned an article “A Light in the Darkness.” It focused on depression, anxiety and other mental health problems faced by many baseball players.
Concentrating on such players like Ian Snell, Steve Blass, Zack Greinke and Bill Pulsipher, the reader is let into a brave new world where mental health issues are something of a taboo issue.
Phrases such as performance anxiety were used by Blass, who said after a terrible relief outing he would wander the streets at night devastated by the results. Snell expressed his inner pain, something he had been dealing with since his senior year in high school; “If a player messes up, why does everyone automatically think he’s a bad person?” and “is the world better without me?” This all after he went 7-12 with a 5.42 ERA in Pittsburgh.
Now that the “Do you know who I am” comment is viral, stop and think about what Cabrera and his family are facing before it’s used as the butt of every joke. Cabrera aside, how many others are on the cusp of a situation like this in pro sports. We think because someone makes $20 million a year they have no problems. I beg to differ.
Devon is the founder of The GM’s Perspective
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