Florida's Miguel Cabrera: a star in the making: at 21, Marlins right-handed hitting slugger has fun making the game look easy and promises to make a big impact in the majors.

THE LAST DOMINO HITS THE table with a loud clack, and boyish baseball prodigy Miguel Cabrera bursts out of his seat to celebrate a winning play. Two teammates laugh at his enthusiasm. Another stalks away, feigning anger in defeat, only to return moments later to start another game.

It is three hours until first pitch, and the National League's promising prodigy is throwing his weight around the Florida Marlins' clubhouse, but it's not what you think.

The 21-year-old slugger already is on the brink of superstardom. Some say he's the next Alex Rodriguez, with his baby face and booming bat, but he is really just a kid from Venezuela on a really long field trip. If he weren't 6 feet 2, you might mistake him for the batboy, and that would be just fine with him.

"I just want to go out and play," he says, his English broken but getting better every day.

Cabrera arrived in the major leagues June 20, 2003, a highly regarded prospect with seemingly unlimited potential, but no one expected him to get so comfortable so quickly.

He had 12 home runs and 62 RBI in just 87 games and balled out the surging Marlins in September when third baseman Mike Lowell went down for a month with a broken hand. By the end of October--when the Marlins were getting fitted for their World Series championship rings---he already had built a national reputation with four post-season home runs.

"He's the real deal," said teammate Jeff Conine. "He makes it look easy. The ball just does something extra when it comes off his bat."