Dye: Cabrera's cry for help

Dye: Cabrera's cry for help

Published Feb. 17, 2011 1:39 p.m. ET

Feb. 17, 2011

Miguel Cabrera needs help, and he needs it now.

You know it, I know it, the Tigers know it.

But all that really matters is that Cabrera realizes it in the aftermath of his drunk-driving arrest.

A little over a year ago, Cabrera said a lot of the right things while admitting he had undergone counseling during the offseason to deal with alcohol issues.

"When you have problems, you can't hide," Cabrera told reporters at the time. "When you know you don't do right, you need to do something and ask for help."

It's time for more help, extreme help. A potential Hall of Fame career is on line here.

Cabrera, who turns 28 in a couple months, is arguably the second-most dangerous hitter in the game behind Albert Pujols. Cabrera hit .328 last season with career highs of 38 home runs and 126 RBI while finishing second in the American League MVP voting.

His future is crucial for the Tigers' organization, too. He signed an eight-year, $152.3 million contract extension in 2008 and is under contract through the 2015 season. He's making an average of $19 million per year right now.

But something is sadly wrong in Cabrera's life, and it could lead to something even worse than the downfall of a baseball player or a baseball team.

All the money and the talent in the world isn't making up for the apparent problems in Cabrera's personal life. They are bigger than anything he faces in the batter's box any day of the season. They could potentially ruin him.

Cabrera vowed during spring training a year ago that he had completely stopped drinking alcohol. He argued that he shouldn't be classified as an alcoholic, either.

"You guys write in the paper 'alcoholic,' (but) that's not right," Cabrera told reporters in March 2010. "I don't know how to explain, but it's not an alcohol problem."

Perhaps, in retrospect, there were some words of denial that need to be readdressed.

Cabrera received outpatient counseling three or four days a week for about 2 1/2 hours per session during the offseason a year ago, according to Tigers general manager Dave Dombrowski.

"He not only had issues to deal with alcoholism," Dombrowski said at the time, "he had family issues."

Both of Cabrera's most highly publicized incidents appear to be cries for help.

First, with the Tigers in the middle of a race to clinch a playoff spot in September 2009, Cabrera got into an altercation with his wife after returning home from a bar around 5 a.m. Police said he had a 0.26 blood-alcohol level, which is three times the legal limit for driving in Michigan. Dombrowski picked him up at the police station and drove him home.

The Tigers lost a game later that night that led to their epic late-season collapse.

Cabrera's latest run-in, with spring training starting this week,

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