Detroit Tigers first baseman Miguel Cabrera takes batting practice during spring training on Monday, Feb. 18, 2019, in Lakeland, Florida. Anthony Fenech, Detroit Free Press
LAKELAND, Fla. — For days, the baggage had been piling up around Miguel Cabrera’s locker, like presents next to a Christmas tree. First came the cardboard boxes, then the Detroit Tigers duffel bags on top of them — one weighing 51 pounds — and soon, stack of 10 Adidas shoeboxes.
There was a Franklin baseball bag and a designer backpack, both wrapped in plastic, and one letter on his chair, addressed from Brooklyn with this direction: DO NOT BEND.