Like so many others across the country and around the world, for the Detroit Tigers’ superstar Miguel Cabrera, the first step was admitting he had a problem.
After a couple of embarrassing incidents involving alcohol at the end of last season, Cabrera underwent counseling this winter and is doing something that is really hard for someone in their mid-20s to do—quit drinking alcohol.
“When you want something and you know what you’re doing is bad, you say this thing is not right, this thing is not going to help me in my work,” he said though the Associated Press. “So first you’ve got to think about yourself. First you help yourself and then you can help everybody.”
I really give Cabrera a lot of credit. While he wants to make it clear he was not an “alcoholic,” there was something clearly going on with the Tigers’ first baseman.
Everything came to a head at the end of last season when GM Dave Dombrowski had to pick up Cabrera at the police station following an incident with his wife. Cabrera had a 0.26 blood-alcohol reading—three times above Michigan’s legal limit for driving—and a bruised and cut left cheek.
Could you possibly imagine that conversation in the car between Dombrowski and Cabrera after the GM picked up Cabrera? That was probably just as bad as Cabrera’s parents picking him up—if not worse.
Since then, it’s pretty clear that Cabrera has matured, which is really impressive. So many players and people for that matter, don’t mature and continue to live their lives like they are 18-year-old freshman at college.
If the Tigers hope to compete in the AL Central, they will need Cabrera to be 100 percent healthy and focused. He got off to a good start this winter.
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