Miguel Cabrera has really gotten his act together

Sporting News - Detroit Tigers slugger Miguel Cabrera was arrested late Wednesday on drunken driving charges in Florida, police said, the latest episode for the first baseman who has struggled with a drinking problem.

Cabrera, 27, was spotted by a deputy in a car that's engine was smoking alongside a road in Fort Pierce. Inside the vehicle, Cabrera smelled of alcohol, had slurred speech and took a swig from a bottle of scotch in front of a deputy, according to St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office said. He refused to cooperate and more deputies were called to the scene.

He was wandering into the road with his hands up before he was handcuffed, the report said. He kept saying, "Do you know who I am, you don't know anything about my problems," and cursed at deputies who tried to get him into a patrol car.

One deputy struck Cabrera in the left thigh several times with his knee after Cabrera pushed into him, causing the ballplayer to fall into the patrol car. Cabrera refused to take a breath test, deputies said.

Well, so much for the Tigers competing with Twins and White Sox for the AL Central crown this year.  It can't help your team when your best player (who is a recovering alcoholic) is drunkenly pushing police officers in the middle of street right before spring training starts.  That won't cause any unneeded distractions for the team.

You at least have to respect Cabrera's decision to refuse to take the breathalyzer right after he took a pull of scotch straight from the bottle. Like he is obviously drunk, what is the point of proving exactly how drunk he is.

Spring is officially here!!!

It's 52 degrees outside, my car has no snow piled up around it, and the White Sox pitchers and catchers report to spring training today. That means that spring is here I can forget about the Packers winning the Super Bowl and focus on the Bulls playoff run and the White Sox taking the AL Central crown back from the Twins. 


According to Kenny, Jerry and the White Sox marketing department they are "All in" this year, but are they really? The team looks better than last year, but there are still questions that need to be answered.  Here are three that may be the most important.



How soon can Peavy come back and who is going to be the 5th starter until he does? Peavy claims to be at 60% to 70%, but he pushed himself past where the team wanted him to be.  You don't want to rush an arm injury on a pitcher and have him just go out there to get hurt again.  The Sox season fell apart last year when Peavy got hurt and with him they have a really solid 1 through 5 starting rotation.  Without him the Sox only really have 4 starters with any experience and they don't have Freddy Garcia (signed with Yankees) to fill in at the 5th starter spot.


Who is the Closer?  The Sox let Bobby Jenks go this off-season.  It was time, his numbers had been declining and he was going to cost a lot in arbitration if they kept him.  Chris Sale looks ready to be the closer.  He put up great numbers after being called up last season (1.93 ERA, 1.07 WHIP and 32 K in 23.1 innings), and really just looked like a closer.  But we all know that Ozzie likes his veterans and may give Matt Thornton the shot this year.


Is it Morel or Teahen at 3rd?  Mark Teahen had a bad year at the plate last year and an even worse year in the field.  Brent Morel came up late in the year and played great defense and all those crazy stat guys say that his bat should pick it up this year.  If I was in charge Morel would get the job to start the year and Teahen would be used in a utility role, but Teahen got a new three year contract before the season last year, so we will see what if that makes the front office think he deserves another chance.


Is Beckham ready to jump to the next level?  I can't possibly analyze this question fairly because I have been in love with Beckham since his first at-bat.  With that said he had an absolutely terrible first half of the season last year that had people wondering if he should be sent back to the minors. He got his act together in the second half and posted a .310 average and an .877 OPS.  If he can do that for a whole season, which isn't out of the question, that is definitely making the jump to the next level.


Even with those unanswered questions, the team is in good shape.  The upgrades of Dunn over the garbage they had at DH last year and a full year of Edwin Jackson will be huge.  The White Sox are ready to challenge the Twins this year. Now they just need to figure out how to win a game in Minnesota.

This was bound to happen

Last night the inevitable happened, Blake Griffin aka Blake Superior aka Earthblake aka it doesn't matter what you call him because he is on monster, hit his head on the backboard.  Which is what happens when you have a 42" vertical and play basketball with no regard for your body or anybody else's for that matter.   It seems like he is on track for a horrific injury if he keep playing the way he does, but let's hope that doesn't happen, because the man is providing amazing highlights every night he plays.  

Also let's hope his head isn't too rattled, we need him all there so that he can save the dunk contest on Saturday.  He is our last hope.