Tigers' Cabrera wins Triple Crown of baseball in season finale

KANSAS CITY, Mo. –  Tigers slugger Miguel Cabrera became the first player in 45 years to win baseball's Triple Crown on Wednesday night, joining an elite list that includes Mickey Mantle, Ted Williams and Lou Gehrig.

Cabrera's milestone wasn't official until the Yankees pinch hit for Curtis Granderson in their game against the Boston Red Sox. Granderson had homered twice to reach 43 for the year, tied with the Rangers' Josh Hamilton and one shy of Cabrera.

Cabrera went 0 for 2 against the Royals before leaving in the fourth inning to a standing ovation. He finished the regular season with a .330 average, four points better the Angels' Mike Trout, his biggest competition for MVP. Cabrera was the runaway leader with 139 RBIs.

Boston's Carl Yastrzemski was the previous player to achieve the Triple Crown in 1967.

"I would say without question he's enjoyed it. How could you not enjoy what he's done if you're a baseball player?" Tigers manager Jim Leyland said before the game.

"I would also add to that I doubt very much, knowing him, that he necessarily enjoys all the extra attention, and all the extra conversations he has to have, it's kind of out of his realm in personality, to be honest with you."

Only the Angels' Mike Trout provided a threat to Cabrera's second consecutive batting title, and only the Yankees' Curtis Granderson had a chance of hitting more home runs after the Rangers' Josh Hamilton finished with 43 homers earlier in the day.

Cabrera's pursuit of history has occurred largely in the dark, though, overshadowed by thrilling pennant races, the sheer enormity of the NFL -- even the presidential election.

An event that in other years might dominate headlines has been mostly cast aside.

"The entire baseball world should be here right now," said Tigers ace Justin Verlander, the reigning AL MVP, who may soon watch that award get handed off to his teammate.

Perhaps part of the void has to do with Cabrera's very nature.

He's not the boisterous sort, never one to crave attention. He would rather hang out with a couple of buddies than stand in front a pack of television cameras, answering countless questions about what makes him one of the game's most complete hitters.

"He's not a talkative guy," said Tigers catcher Alex Avila. "One, he doesn't speak English that well, but two, he lets his ability carry through."

It takes a special breed to hit for average, power and in clutch situations, which is why there have only been 14 players to achieve baseball's version of the Triple Crown, an honor roll that includes iconic players such as Mickey Mantle, Ted Williams and Lou Gehrig.

Barry Bonds and Alex Rodriguez never accomplished it, failing to win the batting title, and countless other Hall of Fame players have fallen short of one of sport's rarest feats.

To put it in perspective, consider horse racing's Triple Crown.

The last thoroughbred to win the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes in the same year was Affirmed in 1978, more than a full decade after Yastrzemski's magical summer in Boston.

Whether it's on par with Johnny Vander Meer's consecutive no-hitters, Jack Nicklaus' 18 major championships in golf, Joe DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak or Brett Favre's consecutive games streak for quarterback is open to interpretation, and perhaps some bar-room debate.

Those who have witnessed it first-hand certainly have their opinions.

"It's pretty amazing," said the Royals' Alex Gordon, who's watched the drama unfold from his spot in left field. "Honestly, his numbers are like that every year. He has a great average, great home runs, great RBIs. He's a guy who can pull this off, and it's great for the game."

Giants infielder Pablo Sandoval said he was particularly proud that the Triple Crown would be accomplished by a fellow Venezuelan. Cabrera is from Maracay, along the Caribbean coast.

"I'm excited for the country and for the fans that support us every single day. It's a big deal in Venezuela right now," Sandoval said. "It's exciting, especially because of all the things that have happened in his career."

Yes, it seems that every fairytale these days carries a troublesome footnote.

In Cabrera's case, it stems from spring training last year, when he was involved in an ugly drunken driving incident. According to authorities in St. Lucie County, Fla., Cabrera refused to cooperate, directed an obscene gesture at police and even dared them to shoot him.

The Tigers have been careful to keep him from having to discuss his personal issues, but by all accounts, Cabrera has been a model player ever since. This year, he's the Tigers' nominee for the Roberto Clemente Award, given to the player "who best represents the game of baseball through positive contributions on and off the field, including sportsmanship and community involvement."

"This clubhouse wouldn't be quite as good without him," Leyland said.

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Tommy John surgery: The next student steroid?

When it comes to high school and college sports, young athletes often yearn for bigger muscles to enhance their performance.  But for student baseball pitchers, strength isn’t so much the goal as it is speed – throwing speed, that is.

Now, student athletes looking for a way to get an extra boost in their pitching arm have been putting their hopes in an elective surgery called ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) reconstruction – more famously known as Tommy John surgery.

However, according to one doctor, misconceptions surround Tommy John surgery, cautioning it isn’t necessarily the miraculous savior that student athletes think it is.

“They believe the surgery can allow you to throw more effectively,” Dr. Christopher Ahmad, an associate professor of orthopedic surgery at Columbia University and head team physician for the New York Yankees, told FoxNews.com.  “It’s not much different than thinking performance enhancing drugs can make you throw harder.”

Surgery risks, recovery

Named after former Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Tommy John, the reconstructive elbow surgery became famous in 1974 when John damaged his UCL in the middle of a great 13 - 3 season.  With no options available and desperate to keep playing baseball, John approached Dr. Frank Jobe – an orthopedic surgeon and special advisor to the Dodgers – begging him to come up with a surgery to save his pitching arm.

Jobe eventually figured out a way to replace John’s injured UCL with a tendon graft from his forearm.  Once John underwent the surgery and fully recovered, he returned to baseball in 1976, ultimately winning more games after his surgery than before.

According to Ahmad, because of John and others like him who have had successful careers post-UCL reconstruction, student athletes are starting to get the wrong idea about Tommy John surgery.  In a recent study published by Ahmad in The Physician and Sportsmedicine, 50 percent of student athletes believed the surgery should be performed in absence of injury in order to improve performance – a mindset, he said, that could prove to be dangerous.

“I may see 20 kids a week with elbow pain; sometimes they have real pain, or they say, ‘I’m sore and my performance is down,’” Ahmad said.  “Then they’ll say something like, ‘Can you do an MRI scan for me? I may need Tommy John surgery.’  It’s dissatisfaction with performance and a rationale that Tommy John surgery will make them better.”

Ahmad said it’s important for students to focus on the third word: surgery.  With every operation, no matter where in the body, there are always risks.  For those who wind up having UCL reconstructive surgery, they run the risk of their elbow becoming permanently stiff, their muscles tearing or having iatrogenic (physician-induced) problems in their elbow.

Also, those who have UCL reconstruction won’t be playing ball anytime soon after the procedure.

“It takes a full year to recover,” Ahmad said. “It’s an obligation and responsibility you have to do rehabilitation for a full year.  They don’t understand what the time frame is to get back.  They think next week they’ll be throwing 90 miles per hour… In reality, the success rate of having Tommy John surgery is between 70 and 80 percent to full level of throwing.”

As for why this misconception exists, Ahmad believes those who receive Tommy John surgery may play better afterward simply because their injury is no longer ailing them.  Also, the ‘success rate’ of Tommy John surgery may be a bit skewed.

“The people who come back and play better – they’re the ones who get highlighted,” Ahmad said.  “The public doesn’t hear about the athlete who did not come back.  He falls off the media’s radar, so all the failures that are out there, [students] don’t hear about it.  There’s no research that says if you have surgery, you come back and throw faster and harder.”

Disturbing trends

In lieu of this false belief, Ahmad said he’s seen a disturbing trend in which students believe if they blow out their elbow ligaments, they can qualify for Tommy John surgery and become better players.  Pitchers and coaches alike have become more reckless during practice and play, Ahmad said, because they wrongly believe that injuries can easily be fixed with surgery.  According to his research, 30 percent of coaches did not believe that throwing too much would lead to injury.

Because of these alarming patterns, Ahmad said it’s important for sports physicians to reach out to both students and coaches about the dangers of overthrowing.  It’s recommended that students take two to three months off a year in order for their tissue to recover and avoid rupture.  It’s important to remember that an athlete’s muscles and tissues are constantly growing – and need to be cared for.

“If you are a developing athlete at 16, you’re going to get better and be a better athlete at 19,” Ahmad said.  “If you have Tommy John surgery during that development, you’re going to develop as a pitcher, but the surgery itself doesn’t allow you to throw at higher velocities.”

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