Prepare.

In a place where the object is to quiet the mind and block out everything but the pitcher, Cabrera sees everything, including the manager in the opposing dugout at Comerica Park.

“I know he is looking in the dugout trying to see if I’m giving signs (on how to pitch him),” said Gardenhire, who has faced Cabrera 15-18 times a season for the last five years. “He is staring at me.”

The first time Cabrera did this, Gardenhire was stunned.

“Is he looking at me?” he wondered. “I’m like, you are not supposed to be doing that.”

Not because it’s poor gamesmanship, but because hitting a baseball is the most difficult thing in sports, and most batters need to focus on the pitcher, not the opposing manager.

“But he pays attention (to everything),” Gardenhire said. “He hears us yelling from the dugout. I tell my guys, ‘Be careful here, he is looking at us, trying to figure out what we are trying to do.’ ”

When asked why he does this, Cabrera admitted he was just searching for an edge. He didn’t start trying to decode opposing managers until a few seasons ago. As a right-handed hitter at Comerica, he can take a step out of the box between pitches and shoot a glance at the visitor’s dugout. He does this at other parks, too, wherever the opponent’s dugout is to his right.

“It helps me a little bit to prepare,” he said.

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