DETROIT – Miguel Cabrera has been selected as the Tiger of the Year for 2012 in voting by the Detroit Chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America. The third baseman was a unanimous selection, receiving all 25 first place votes.
Cabrera led the American League with a .330 batting average, 44 home runs and 139 RBI to become the first player to win the Triple Crown since Boston's Carl Yastrzemski in 1967. It marked the 14th time since 1900 a player has captured the Triple Crown and Cabrera is the 12th player to accomplish the feat during that time. He is just the second player in Tigers history to win the Triple Crown, joining Ty Cobb who did so in 1909.
The batting title marked the second consecutive season Cabrera has topped the American League in hitting, becoming the first Tigers player to win back-to-back batting titles since Ty Cobb did so in three consecutive seasons from 1917-19. In addition to leading the league in batting average, home runs and RBI, he also led the league with 377 total bases, 84 extra-base hits and a .606 slugging percentage, while he finished second with 109 runs scored and 205 hits, fourth with a .393 on-base percentage and seventh with 40 doubles.
Since joining the Tigers in 2008, Cabrera leads the American League with 183 home runs, 600 RBI and a .579 slugging percentage, while ranking second with a .323 batting average, 960 hits, 203 doubles, 387 walks and a .401 on-base percentage. He has collected at least 100 RBI in each of his five seasons with the Tigers, becoming just the third player in franchise history to collect at least 100 RBI in five consecutive seasons, joining Harry Heilmann, who did so in seven straight seasons from 1923-29 and Charlie Gehringer, who did so in five consecutive seasons from 1932-36.
Cabrera was announced yesterday on the MLB Network as one of the five finalists for the American League Most Valuable Player Award, selected by a national vote of the BBWAA. He has already been named the MLB Player of the Year by The Sporting News and the 2012 Player of the Year and American League Outstanding Player in voting by his fellow players in the Players Choice Awards.
This year's honor marks the third career Tiger of the Year award for Cabrera as he also won the award following the 2008 and 2010 seasons. He joins Alan Trammell and Cecil Fielder as the only players to win the award three times.
Recipients of the Tiger of the Year Award
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1965 – Don Wert 1990 – Cecil Fielder
1966 – Al Kaline 1991 – Cecil Fielder
1967 – Bill Freehan 1992 – Cecil Fielder
1968 – Denny McLain 1993 – Tony Phillips
1969 – Denny McLain 1994 – Kirk Gibson
1970 – Tom Timmerman 1995 – Travis Fryman
1971 – Mickey Lolich 1996 – Travis Fryman
1972 – Ed Brinkman 1997 – Tony Clark and
1973 – John Hiller Bobby Higginson (tie)
1974 – Al Kaline 1998 – Damion Easley
1975 – Willie Horton 1999 – Dean Palmer
1976 – Mark Fidrych 2000 – Bobby Higginson
1977 – Ron LeFlore 2001 – Steve Sparks
1978 – Ron LeFlore 2002 – Randall Simon
1979 – Steve Kemp 2003 – Dmitri Young
1980 – Alan Trammell 2004 – Ivan Rodriguez
1981 – Kirk Gibson 2005 – Placido Polanco
1982 – Lance Parrish 2006 – Carlos Guillen
1983 – Lou Whitaker 2007 – Magglio Ordonez
1984 – Willie Hernandez 2008 – Miguel Cabrera
1985 – Darrell Evans 2009 – Justin Verlander
1986 – Jack Morris 2010 – Miguel Cabrera
1987 – Alan Trammell 2011 – Justin Verlander
1988 – Alan Trammell 2012 – Miguel Cabrera
1989 – Lou Whitaker