Fielder At Home in Detroit
Written by Bob Whalon, Tuesday January 24 2012
Cecil Fielder once hit 51 home runs for the Detroit Tigers in 1990. Cecil played for the Tigers until 1996 and it was during that time that his son put on a prodigious hitting display.
"You can't ever say that you look at a kid and say that you know he's going to hit 40 or 50 home runs someday, but Prince was unbelievable," Tigers Hall of Famer Al Kaline said. "Here's a 12-year-old kid commonly hitting homers at a big league park."
Well now the 27-year-old Prince Fielder is going to be hitting more home runs in Detroit, but this time it will be as an official member of the Tigers. On Tuesday Fielder signed a nine-year $214 million contract with Detroit.
Detroit entered the Fielder sweepstakes after the recent knee injury to star catcher/designated hitter Victor Martinez. Martinez torn his ACL and may be lost for the entire 1012 season, so Tigers general manager figured that he had to do something to replace his production.
Fielder hit .299 with 38 home runs and 120 RBIs last season with the Milwaukee Brewers. He has averaged 40 home runs and 113 RBIs over the past five seasons and he has appeared in at least 157 in each of the last six seasons.
The left-handed hitting Fielder joins right-handed hitting first baseman Miguel Cabrera in the middle of the potent Tigers lineup. "I don' think there's a better right-left combo in any lineup in baseball," Tigers outfielder Brennan Boesch said.
With Martinez out, Fielder figures to be the DH in 2012. But Martinez is in the second year of a $50 million, four-year contract. When Martinez is ready to come back in 2013, the Tigers could possibly move Cabrera to third base, where he played regularly for the Florida Marlins before being acquired by Detroit. Current third baseman Brandon Inge's contract is up after this season.
The Tigers won their division by 15 games before losing in the ALCS to the Texas Rangers. Now with Fielder in the fold, the Tigers will look repeat as division champs and possibly win their first World Series title since 1984.
Who knew that 12-year-old kid would someday come back to Detroit and do his father proud.
"I know [Tigers owner] Mr. Ilitch is probably excited because he's been wanting that kid since he was a little kid, so he finally got his wish," Cecil Fielder said.
Tags: Al Kaline, ALCS, Brandon Inge, Brennan Boesch, Cecil Fielder, Detroit Tigers, Florida Marlins, Miguel Cabrera, Milwaukee Brewers, MLB, Prince Fielder, Texas Rangers, Victor Martinez, World Series
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