Miguel Cabrera Cashing In on Newfound Triple Crown Fame

by NESN Staff on Fri, Oct 5, 2012 at 11:25PM

Miguel Cabrera is in demand.

On Wednesday night, the Tigers third baseman secured the first Triple Crown in Major League Baseball in 45 years — the last being Red Sox left fielder Carl Yastrzemski in 1967 — finishing with a .330 batting average, 44 home runs and 139 RBIs. While his MVP candidacy is still up for debate, MLB decided to immediately cash in on the newly made history by offering dirt from the Kauffman Stadium batter's box stored in a plaque for the low, low price of $39.99.

Well, apparently the marketability of the achievement goes far beyond the appeal of dirt.

According to ESPN.com, Cabrera gets a piece of all proceeds from memorabilia inscribed with references to his Triple Crown feat — items including shirts, coins and photographs. Additionally, it's not known how much he'll make, but Cabrera has an agreement with the memorabilia firm Detroit City Sports to sign autograps in an event on Friday.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the cost of a Cabrera autograph has also skyrocketed. During the middle of the season, the report says that an autographed baseball cost in the range of $150. However, now Cabrera balls — with an MVP insignia — are being sold at about $400.

In other words, if you previously owned a Miguel Cabrera autographed baseball, you either have a forever-treasured piece of baseball history — or have made a very, very nice investment.

Photo of the Night

Ivan De Jesus is trying to find his way to the Red Sox' clubhouse and is very, very lost.

Quote of the Night

"If we're going to continue to let teams in year after year … let's
just have everybody in. Let's play 162 games to seed yourselves and then we'll let the
Astros have a shot at it and whoever else wants
a shot at it. A six- or seven-game winning streak and you're the world
champion."
–A very sarcastic Chipper Jones after losing Major League Baseball's first-ever one-game Wild Card playoff.