The Detroit Tigers won the A.L. Central in 2011 with a 95-67 record, which had them 15 games in front of the 2nd place Cleveland Indians. The Tigers went on to kick the Yankees out of the playoffs before falling in six games to the Rangers in the A.L.C.S. Here are the things that stuck out in my mind about the Tigers in 2011:

TEAM MVP: 28-year old righty swinging 1B Miguel Cabrera was a beast in 2011. He played in 161 games for the Tigers last year and he was 197 for 572 (.344 avg, 1.033 OPS) with 111 runs scored, 30 homers, 105 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. Teams were pitching around Cabrera in 2011, so he was more than happy to walk to 1B 108 times while whiffing only 89 times. Cabrera added a batting title in the American League to his trophy chest.

BEST PITCHER: 28-year old righty starting pitcher Justin Verlander was the best pitcher in baseball in 2011. He pitched in 34 games (all starts) for the Tigers in 2011 and he was 24-5 with a 2.40 ERA and a 0.92 WHIP. Verlander only gave up 174 hits and 57 walks in 2011, while whiffing 250 batters in 251 innings….and those are impressive numbers. He is almost a lock to win the Cy Young Award in the A.L. this year.

PLEASANT SURPRISE: 25-year old righty reliever Al Alburquerque came out of nowhere for the Tigers in 2011. He pitched in 41 games (0 starts) for the Tigers in 2011 and he was 6-1 with a 1.87 ERA and a 1.15 WHIP. He only gave up 21 hits while whiffing 67 batters in only 43 1/3 innings for the Tigers in 2011, and that is impressive.

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT: 34-year old righty swinging 3B Brandon Inge played in 102 games for the Tigers last year and he was 53 for 269 (.197 avg, .548 OPS) with 29 runs scored, 3 homers, 23 RBIs and 1 stolen base. Inge was sent to the minors for a while in 2011.