Cabrera chases baseball’s fir

Tiger chases Davis in homer race, but runs away in RBIS, average and rates mention with legends

DETROIT— Miguel Cabrera flashed his playful, boyish grin when pressed to explain how he’s doing what just some of the game’s greats have done.

“Magic,” he said, sitting in front of his locker as a handful of reporters encircled him.

While even those who watch the Detroit Tigers on a daily basis struggle to describe what Cabrera is doing and those on opposing teams can only marvel, Cabrera is impressively creating his own place in baseball history.

Despite 50 years of experience in professional baseball, Tigers manager Jim Leyland said he hasn’t seen anyone do what Cabrera is doing at the plate.

There’s a reason for that. No one has seen it.

Cabrera is the only player in major league history with at least 1,962 hits, 410 doubles, 361 homers and 1,243 RBIs at the age of 30 years and 4 months, according to STATS LLC.

The reigning Triple Crown winner has a shot to become baseball’s first player to lead a league in batting average, home runs and RBIs in consecutive seasons.

Only Ted Williams and Rogers Hornsby have twice won Triple Crowns in a career — Williams in 1947 and 1942; Hornsby in 1925 and 1922.

The defending AL MVP, whose banged- up body got a much-needed day of rest Monday, is leading the major leagues with a .360 average and 120 RBIs. Cabrera’s 40 homers trail only Baltimore’s Chris Davis, who hit his 45th Sunday.

“He’s the best player in baseball,” Kansas City Royals manager Ned Yost said. “It’s as simple as that.”

Maybe it is, but that might not be good enough to catch Davis to pull off an unprecedented feat with back-to-back Triple Crowns.

Cabrera became baseball’s first Triple Crown winner last year since Carl Yastrzemski of the Boston Red Sox in 1967 by hitting .330 with 44 homers and 139 RBIs for the AL Central-division winning Tigers. Cabrera could easily surpass his home run totals from last year, and still not catch Davis.

He is connecting on pitches he isn’t supposed to hit, cutters several inches inside and off the plate and fastballs away high or low.

Royals starter Bruce Chen hadn’t lost this season until he had to pitch against Cabrera on Sunday afternoon at Comerica Park. Cabrera sent Chen’s first pitch over the left-field wall for a two-run homer, a day after he ended a game with a homer to right.

The lefty didn’t want to give the slugger anything to hit in the third inning and liked what he saw coming out of his hand. Until Cabrera smacked it for an RBI single.

“I was going ‘Whoa, a good pitch. Not over the plate,’ ” Chen recalled. “But he hit it like I left it in the middle of the plate, but I didn’t.”

Cabrera’s manager and teammates would

“It’s almost like he’s a mind-reader. … It’s uncanny the way he has the ability to kind of sense what’s coming.” JIM LEYLAND TIGERS MANAGER, ON OPPOSING PITCHERS’ INABILITY TO PITCH AROUND MIGUEL CABRERA