Miggy excelled in stretch run, excited for future

ATLANTA — Miguel Cabrera never played with Jose Fernandez, but the tragic death of the Marlins’ pitcher in Cabrera’s offseason hometown of Miami hit him hard. It still resonates with him. It also left him with a lesson.

“Never take anything for granted,” Cabrera said after his season ended suddenly on Sunday in the Tigers’ 1-0 loss.

Cabrera meant that about life, and he meant that about baseball. A bad game isn’t the end of the world. But it’s also important to appreciate every game.

“Never take anything for granted,” Cabrera repeated, “and try to play every game no matter what.”

As Cabrera said this, he was still struggling to accept the fact that there are no more games left for him to play this year. Detroit’s late charge for a postseason spot, fueled in part by his late-season hitting, fell a game short, sending him from the possibility of extra tiebreakers and travel to the reality of heading home.

“I was telling guys, ‘What am I going to do?'” Cabrera said. “You don’t make plans because you want to be in the race and you want to be in the playoffs. Right now, I have to think what I’m going to do. I’m kind of like, ‘Let’s keep playing.'”

The way Cabrera was hitting, he’d understandably want to keep swinging. Cabrera batted .349 (37-for-106) with 10 home runs, 27 RBIs, 16 …

continue reading in source mlb.mlb.com