Venezuela's Miguel Cabrera wins baseball's Triple Crown

Venezuelan Miguel Cabrera joins American baseball's elite

Detroit Tigers' Miguel Cabrera has become the first player in 45 years to win Major League Baseball's Triple Crown.

Cabrera, from Maracay in Venezuela, topped the three tables for batting average, home runs, and producing runs.

Cabrera said his dream "had come true".

The Triple Crown had only been won by 14 players in American baseball history, and eluded some of the all-time greats, including Babe Ruth.

Cabrera clinched the Triple Crown on Wednesday after his side's game against the Kansas City Royals.

The only man who could deny him the accolade, Curtis Granderson of the New York Yankees, ended one home run short in the home run table.

"It's an unbelievable feeling," Cabrera said.

Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig said: "Miguel has become one of the most accomplished hitters in the game, and this recognition is one that he will be able to cherish for the rest of his life.".

For a sport that loves statistics, the Triple Crown is one of the rarest feats, last accomplished in 1967 by Boston's Carl Yastrzemski.

It goes to the player who leads the batting average, has most home runs and tops the table for runs batted in (RBIs) in either of the American or the National League, which together make up Major League Baseball.

Cabrera, 29, had a .330 batting average, 44 home runs and 139 RBIs in the American League.

He is the first Latin American to take the honour, and his success was widely reported in his baseball-mad home country of Venezuela.