over. With 30 hours to go in my tour of Cabrera's world, my host will say nothing else to me aside from "hola" and "thank you." And in neither case will Cabrera look me in the eye.

To strangers, Miguel Cabrera is a man of few words and rarely ever warms up. Andrew Kaufman for ESPN

ON A FROZEN January morning in Detroit, a bus full of Tigers sits outside the players' hotel. The team is heading out on its Winter Caravan, an annual meet-and-greet with fans at sites across the state. And we're all waiting on Cabrera.

He has earned the grace period, of course. The 29-year-old is coming off one of the greatest seasons in baseball's modern era, having led his Tigers to a runner-up finish in the WorldSeries while also becoming the first player since Carl Yastrzemski in 1967 to top the league in home runs, RBIs and batting average. And that hallowed Triple Crown is just the latest addition to a dazzling collection of achievements -- seven All-Star selections, two batting titles, two home run titles and a World Series win accrued over a 10-year career that has earned Cabrera every bit of his $152 million contract as well as the admiration of his peers, who in November voted him Player of the Year.

Now all eyes are on Cabrera, who arrives a few minutes late, dressed in a black hoodie and baggy jeans. A Tigers staffer facilitates a curbside introduction. "What's up, Miguel!" I yelp. "Hello," he replies. "Looks like I'll be bugging you