DETROIT – Miguel Cabrera won baseball’s first Triple Crown in 45 years in 2012, and put himself on a Hall of Fame course in his first 10 seasons in the majors with the Florida Marlins and Detroit Tigers.
Surprisingly, he has never won the fan vote and started an All-Star Game.
But that appears almost certain to change. Major League Baseball released All-Star voting totals for the first time Monday, and Cabrera leads all American League players with 1,500,163 votes. The Detroit slugger’s closest competition at third base is Manny Machado of the Baltimore Orioles with 723,943 votes.
Online voting runs through July 4, and printed ballots can be submitted until June 28. The AL and National League teams will be announced July 7 for the July 16 “Midsummer Classic” at Citi Field, home of the New York Mets.
Cabrera has not started an All-Star game, but has played in seven of them. He’s just one-for-nine (.111) with a single coming in the 2010 game in Anaheim, Calif.
He’s ruled the regular season of late, though. Cabrera is leading the league with a .367 batting average and 65 RBI, and his 17 home runs are three off the total of league-leader Chris Davis of the Orioles. Cabrera is on pace for 192 RBI, which would break the major league RBI record of 191 set in 1930 by Hack Wilson of the Chicago Cubs.
Davis, with 1,176,016 votes, holds a narrow lead at first base over Tigers star Prince Fielder (1,059,300).
Tigers right fielder Torii Hunter (761,937) has a slim lead over Texas Rangers right fielder Nelson Cruz (717,103) for the third and final outfield starting berth. Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and Baltimore’s Adam Jones both have over 1 million votes for the other two outfield spots.
Detroit shortstop Jhonny Peralta (540,581) is a competitive third behind the Rangers’ Elvis Andrus (727,555) and Baltimore’s J.J. Hardy (717,103). New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter is fifth with 380,445 votes, despite spending the entire season on the disabled list.
Other Tigers in the top five for position voting are second baseman Omar Infante (fourth, 417,333) and designated hitter Victor Martinez (fifth, 340,967). Detroit’s Austin Jackson is 11th among outfielders with 400,019 votes.
