Miguel Cabrera Wins MVP For Second Straight Year, First Since '93-'94 To Do So
By Ashley Dunkak
@AshleyDunkak
Despite a nagging groin injury that hampered him for months, Miguel Cabrera won the American League MVP for a second year in a row Thursday, awarded the honor by the Baseball Writers Association of America.
The 30-year-old Detroit Tigers third baseman is the first to win MVP in back-to-back years since Frank Thomas in 1993 and 1994. Cabrera is the first Tiger to win MVP in consecutive seasons since Hal Newhouser in 1944 and 1945.
Cabrera finished with 23 out of 30 first place votes. Mike Trout of the Angels received five and finished second.
Cabrera's batting average of .348, on-base percentage of .442, slugging percentage of .636 and on-base plus slugging percentage of 1.078 were all the best in the AL in 2013. He also hit 44 homers and recorded 137 RBIs.
With Cabrera's two MVP awards following one by Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander in 2011, this is the third consecutive season the MVP has gone to a Tiger.
The New York Yankees of the early 1960s were the last team to have a player chosen as MVP in at least three straight years. Roger Maris won in 1960 and 1961, Mickey Mantle won in 1962, and Elston Howard won in 1963. The Yankees did it the previous decade too, with Yogi Berra winning in 1954 and 1955 and Mantle winning in 1956 and 1957.
