Carl Edmondson- US PRESSWIRE
Technically, Melky Cabrera is one plate appearance shy of the 502 required to win the National League batting title. However, after giving the San Francisco Giants the first half boost to make the playoffs and hitting a homerun in his MVP MLB All-Star Game appearance, Cabrera has decided to remove himself from the batting title race.
Cabrera is currently sitting out a 50-game suspension for using performance enhancing drugs. His .346 batting average leads the Pittsburgh Pirates Andrew McCutchen by six points heading into the final ten days. Cabrera has admitted to taking the banned substance. Of course, this was after the Giant’s slugger tried to create a fake website and mask his intent to take the drug.
If he had not pulled out of the batting title competition, it would be another mark against MLB Commissioner Bud Selig’s policy towards offenders. As he has watched the greatest hitting marks in baseball except for Joe DiMaggio’s hit streak fall Commissioner Bud Selig has stood by and ignored the situation. This is despite the importance of numbers to baseball fans. Cabrera could still return in the second round of the playoff for the Giants. Maybe he could also be the World Series MVP?
The Giants of course, are home to the biggest scar on the record books, Barry Bonds, who beat Hank Aaron’s homerun record and was part of the onslaught that destroyed Roger Marris’ single season homerun record.
Meanwhile, in the American League, Detroit Tigers Miguel Cabrera has a shot at becoming the first tripe crown winner in the American League since Carl Yastrzemski for the Boston Red Sox in 1967. He currently leads in Batting Average and RBI’s but trails Texas Rangers’ Josh Hamilton by one homerun. Melky Cabrera removing himself from the competition should pave the way for Miguel to have all the attention he deserves.
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