The Sporting News has named Asdrubal Cabrera of the Cleveland Indians to its American League All-Star shortstop for the 2011 season on Thursday. It's an impressive thing for Cabrera to make it, as he's the first Indians shortstop to be given the honor since the 1948 season and Lou Boudreau. The year might seem familiar to fans of the tribe - it's the last time they won the World Series.
Cabrera was an integral part in the Indians' offense, hitting .273 with 25 homers and 92 RBI. He also had three triples, 32 doubles and 87 runs scored. They were career highs in hits, runs, doubles, homers, RBI, games and OPS. With the absence of Derek Jeter, he was also the AL's starting shortstop in the All-Star game this season. His 25 homers are a franchise record for shortstops and Boudreau's name surfaces again when considering RBI, as Cabrera's 92 were the most since Boudreau drove in 106 in 1948, according to Cleveland.com. Another thing to note from the article:
For the curious, Omar Vizquel never won the award while playing with the Indians. He kept getting aced out by Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez and Nomar Garciaparra.
Vizquel spent ten seasons with the Indians and was excellent for the majority of his time there. It's actually pretty shocking - when thinking about it, that he never made it to TSN's shortstop list.