CABRERA NAMED ‘KING TIGER’ 2010 BY MAYO SMITH SOCIETY MEMBERS

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DETROIT -- Detroit Tigers first baseman Miguel Cabrera has won the 2010 King Tiger Award, an award given each year by the Mayo Smith Society.

The award is the second in three years for Cabrera, having also earned the honor in 2008. He is the first repeat winner since the award was resumed in 2004. Society members take into account both on-field and off-field achievements when voting for King Tiger.

Cabrera batted .328 with 111 runs scored, 45 doubles, 38 home runs and 126 RBI. He led the American League with a .420 on-base percentage and 32 intentional walks, while he finished second with a .328 batting average, .622 slugging percentage, 341 total bases, 84 extra-base hits and an RBI once every 4.3 at-bats, tied for second with 111 runs scored, finished third with 38 home runs and a home run every 14.4 at-bats, tied for fourth with 45 doubles, finished fifth with 89 walks and 10th with 180 hits. He was selected to the all-star team for the fifth time in his career and first with the Tigers.

Photo by Jennifer MacPherson / In Play! Magazine

Cabrera became the first Tigers player to lead the American League in RBI since Cecil Fielder led the league with 124 RBI during the 1992 season. He also joined Hank Greenberg as the only player in Tigers history to finish with at least 45 doubles, 35 home runs and 120 RBI during a single season. Greenberg accomplished the feat in 1935, 1937 and 1940. The 2010 season marked his seventh consecutive season with 100-or-more RBI (2004-10) and he is one of four major league players with 100-or-more RBI in each of the past seven seasons, joining Alex Rodriguez (13 straight), Albert Pujols (10 straight) and Mark Teixeira (seven straight).

Also getting King Tiger votes from Mayo Smith Society members were righthanded pitcher Armando Galarraga, third baseman Brandon Inge and outfielder Magglio Ordonez.

The Mayo Smith Society, founded in 1983 and named for the manager of the Tigers’ 1968 World Series championship club, is a nationwide organization of Tigers fans. Since 2004, the society has voted on King Tiger winners based on players’ on-field and off-field endeavors, picking up a tradition from 1964-80 when the presidents of individual Tigers’ fan clubs had voted for their own King Tiger awardees. Mayo Smith Society representatives plan to make the King Tiger presentation to Cabrera during the organization’s annual trip to Lakeland, Florida, for Spring Training.

Past King Tiger winners as voted on by the Mayo Smith Society:
2009: Justin Verlander
2008: Miguel Cabrera
2007: Magglio Ordonez
2006: Kenny Rogers
2005: Placido Polanco
2004: Carlos Guillen, Ivan Rodriguez (tie)

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