Detroit Tigers first baseman Miguel Cabrera has been voted the Budweiser Presents American League Player of the Month for September. Budweiser, the official beer sponsor of Major League Baseball and sponsor of 24 of 30 clubs, is also the presenting sponsor of the National League Player of the Month Award.
Cabrera batted .347 (34-for-98) with 20 runs scored, four doubles, 10 home runs and 27 RBI over 26 games to claim his sixth career Player of the Month Award, last winning in September 2014. Among AL leaders in September with a minimum of 80 at-bats, Miguel finished the month second in slugging percentage (.694), tied for second in home runs and RBI, third in on-base percentage (.443), fourth in batting average, and tied for fourth in hits and runs scored.
On September 5th against the Chicago White Sox, the 2012 Triple Crown winner went 4-for-5 with a pair of home runs. The performance marked his sixth four-hit game of the season and 45th of his career, tying Hall of Famers Goose Goslin, Tony Gwynn and Pie Traynor, as well as Doc Cramer and Derek Jeter for 24th in MLB history. In that same game, the 33-year-old veteran hit his 300th home run as a Tiger, becoming the fourth player in club history to hit 300 home runs, joining Hall of Famers Al Kaline (399) and Hank Greenberg (306), as well as Norm Cash (373). In an away tilt against the Cleveland Indians on September 18th, the Venezuelan native recorded the 2,500th hit of his Major League career. At 33 years, 153 days, Cabrera became the fourth youngest player since 1900 to reach the milestone, trailing only Hall of Famers Ty Cobb (31 years, 242 days), Rogers Hornsby (33 years, 10 days) and Hank Aaron (33 years, 127 days). On September 27th against the Indians at Comerica Park, the two-time AL MVP (2012-13) went 3- for-3 with a home run and five RBI. With the RBI output, Cabrera surpassed the 100-RBI mark in a season for the 12th time in his career and the eighth time with the Tigers, matching Hall of Famer Harry Heilmann for the most 100 RBI seasons in franchise history. His 12 career 100-RBI seasons are tied with Hall of Famer Al Simmons, Manny Ramirez and Barry Bonds for the sixth-most in MLB history. In his last game of the month on Friday against the Atlanta Braves, Cabrera went 3-for-5 with a pair of home runs and three RBI. The performance marked his 39th career multi-homer game and his 30th as a member of the Tigers. Miggy's 30 multi-homer games are second-most in franchise history, trailing only Greenberg (32). Additionally, the 11-time All-Star now has 446 home runs in his storied Major League career, passing Adrian Beltre of the Texas Rangers (445) for 40th in MLB history.
Others receiving votes for AL Player of the Month included Miguel's teammate Justin Upton (.307, 18 R, 12 HR, 27 RBI); Kendrys Morales (.333, 15 R, 8 HR, 30 RBI) of the Kansas City Royals; and Hanley Ramirez (.313, 14 R, 10 HR, 26 RBI) of the Boston Red Sox.
The Budweiser Presents American League Player of the Month, Miguel Cabrera, will receive a specially designed trophy, suitably engraved, for his accomplishment.