Why Prince Fielder's dad made me a Tigers fan: The Origin Story
by Kurt Mensching on Jan 24, 2012 11:12 PM EST
in Detroit Tigers News
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The Little Prince
In outer space
Can catch a shooting star
and sail away
Perhaps one day he’ll come your way
--Theme to the short-lived cartoon,
I’m a child of the 80s, so for reasons unbeknownst to me, that theme song has been in my head all day. On the face, it seems absurd. Little Prince? He’s pushing 300 pounds. At this point, he’s an awfully big Prince. Heck, even as a child, he was still an awfully pudgy Prince. But like they do in the comics, we’ve got to go back to the Prince Fielder origin story to get to the heart of why many Tigers fans are so excited with the news leaked today that Prince Fielder will sign a nine-year, $214 million deal to play in Detroit.
And again, I’m a child of the 80s, which might make me uniquely susceptible to that story. A lot of people a few years older than me, or blessed with the ability to have concrete memories from when they were Age 5, could tell you about the excitement of being a kid in 1984. I can’t. Some of them might be able to talk about going to a ballgame with their dad in or the excitement of coming from behind to win the A.L. East in 1987. I can’t. My father died of cancer in the early 80s, when I was three or four years old, and no one around me really had much need for sports . So baseball? I might have had some cards, or maybe looked at game on the TV, but I didn’t really have much clue what was going on.
When Cecil Fielder signed with Detroit in 1990, it set off a series of events that turned his young son Prince into a young sensation, and my early percolating baseball fandom into a full grown obsession.
Cecil was already a slugger before he got to Detroit. He spent a year in Japan with the Hanshin Tigers, where he earned more than a million dollars and hit 38 home runs . But no one could have predicted what he’d do during his first season in Detroit. This was before the modern era of the slugger, before the 70-home-run years steroids era. This was the time when 50 home runs sounded like an impossibly large number. Fifty home runs hadn’t been hit since 1977. No Tiger had hit the milestone since Hank Greenberg in 1938. But there was Cecil Fielder, stepping to the plate and you just knew he’d hit a home run. This, too, was the era before every game was televised. Some games were on TV, of course, but most of them were on the radio.
At some point, baseball fever must have gripped me. I’m sure I can credit my friends for that. I know I played little league baseball from the time I moved up north, though baseball never seemed nearly as important as basketball, so I don’t remember a lot of real big baseball fans among my friends. I envy those of you who can recite photographic details of the important moments in your childhoods like a movie screen was playing in front of eyes. I can’t. All I can tell you is that some time during the summer of 1990, I saw my first Tigers game in person and I was hooked by the baseball bug.
That autumn, I had a pen pal named Brian – this was during the first gulf war – a soldier serving in the Navy. If I recall, his mother was from the Cadillac area and there was a story about him in the Cadillac Evening News with an address.
So I have two memories from autumn of that year: Listening to every Tigers game on the radio, and following news of the Gulf War on the television. I can remember hunkering down by the radio, convinced Cecil would hit a home run every time, and as the home runs piled up I had to send frequent letters to my pen pal to update him how the Tigers were doing, because I had no clue how much information about such things but I was pretty sure he was a baseball fan. Looking back, it’s so clear to me now. My first sports writing gig.
As Cecil got closer to 50, the meaning would have been lost on me. I couldn’t possibly have had the background to know what it meant to hit 50 home runs. All I knew was how excited everyone one the radio was about the possibility. But I know I wanted him to hit 50, and I knew when he did I would have a very excited letter to send to the Persian Gulf.
As you might know, Cecil did it. I can look up the facts today. He hit home runs No. 50 and 51 at Yankee Stadium, on the last day of the season. What an accomplishment. I can tell you I was sitting in our den in Manton, listening on the old Fischer stereo and speakers my father had owned in the 70s. I can tell you it was cold in there, as the den was built onto the side of our Blue Star home, so I was sitting wrapped in a blanket. I know all of that. It’s seared in my mind. I must have been excited when Cecil hit No. 50. I must have shouted in joy or jumped up and down or had some appropriate reaction. But for the life of me, I can’t remember the details beyond the room I listened to the game in.
Cecil Fielder obviously went on to become a fan favorite. The Tigers still had Alan Trammell and Lou Whitaker and Chet Lemon, and soon added Mickey Tettleton and even Rob Deer. They were hitting tons of home runs, scoring tons of runs, but the team just didn’t have the pitching to put it all together. Over the next few years, things turned worse for the Tigers, and soon they slinked into the decade of futility. Cecil was traded to the Yankees. It was the first real heartbreak moment of my life as a baseball fan.
Prince Fielder was a few years younger than me, born in that magic year of 1984. His origin story began in Detroit, too, as he spent his childhood days there watching his father and playing among the big leaguers like little Victor Martinez does today. People will tell you that at age 12, Prince showed off some of his legendary power when he drilled a home run into the upper deck at old Tiger Stadium. Hey, with that short overhanging porch, anything seemed possible. Prince later said that story was untrue, but the home run during batting practice? That part was true.
Of course, when Prince Fielder entered the draft in 2002, it was a big deal. He was a big deal by then. I hoped the Tigers would draft him, and I’m sure I’m not alone. The Tigers, of course, had an early draft pick. But it wasn’t early enough. The Milwaukee Brewers selected Prince in the first round, seven overall. Detroit took Scott Moore eighth. Prince went on to become a home-run slugger like his father. Scott Moore went on to make his major league debut with the Cubs and do nothing of real interest during his career.
With Miguel Cabrera traded for and signed for an extension in 2008, the Tigers didn’t need a first baseman any more. Detroit was a good baseball team, too. So those thoughts about having Prince Fielder in Detroit kind of passed. By the time he became a free agent this season, I gave no thought to it. He wasn’t a fit for Detroit, and Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski said as much.
Needless to say, my reaction when the news broke this afternoon probably resembled yours. Shock and joy. You saw, I could barely blog about it. It took me hours to process it and put it all together. I still haven’t looked at the numbers. Beyond discussing my gut feelings on the podcast, I have tried not to think yet about the length of the deal, what it means for the Tigers defense, or any analysis.
We’ve got a big, smiling Fielder back in Detroit. I feel like a kid again.
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I can't wait for Opening Day
This should be a very special year!
Those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it.
great stuff
Thanks for sharing this Kurt. You and I are roughly the same age and I feel exactly as you do about this signing. I know there will be plenty of time to worry about all the ramifications, but for today anyway, I can’t wipe the smile from my face.
as another child of the 80s
I don’t remember 84, I vaguely remember running around my front yard that last day of the season in 87, but Cecil’s amazing season is still vivid with me as well. I remember the buzz growing as he hit his 30th, then 40th, and the last two exclamation points to end the year. I’m sure I still have the special Free Press section honoring Fielder’s achievement tucked away with my baseball cards back at my parents house. Great work on this story Kurt.
"I'm a simple man. I like pretty, dark-haired women and breakfast food" - Ron Swanson
Great story Kurt
My mom and grand parents took me to a few games a year as my mom’s work had season tickets. I was at a game where Cecil hit two(48 and 49 I believe). This memory has always stuck with me. I also remember people celebrating the Tigers winning the 84 series but I was only 7 and don’t recall the details just the people honking horns and being so excited. I grew away from baseball in middle and high school, but in 2005 I started to get interested again and a lot of it comes from those great memories when I was a kid.
You nailed it.
Cecil Fielder made me into a Tigers fan when I was 7. I’m trying to think of a comparable “feel good” free agent signing in sports, and failing. I only hope he embraces the D.
that was a great story Kurt!
can’t wait for opening day
Love this post.
I’m pretty young, so my earliest baseball memory is actually meeting Cecil Fielder on the field at Tiger Stadium when I was about four (and asking him how many pancakes he eats every morning). This is all very strange, surreal, and exciting for me.
Heyyy Doug Fister... @spacemnkymafia
by NeifiPerezHilton on Jan 25, 2012 12:25 AM EST reply actions
as i recall
he laughed uproariously and said “a lot.”
Heyyy Doug Fister... @spacemnkymafia
by NeifiPerezHilton on Jan 25, 2012 2:25 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
I was 6 years old...
…and it was my very first baseball game ever. It also happened to be the game Cecil fielder put a 3-2 completely OUT of old tigers stadium against the A’s. I was in total awe and still remember my dads smile looking down on me and was completely blown away at the idea any man could hit a baseball that far. I have totally loved this game and my Tigers ever since.
Cecil is my favorite player ever; to see prince in the old English d will be a rosterbation induced wet dream of epic magnitude in which I have never seen. It still kind of feels surreal.
Tired of generic music??? Exterminate All Rational Thought is here to help!
i am right there with you
i was younger than you but some of my first memories are of watching the tigers when i was really little with my dad. and both of us loved cecil. and much like all of you i just remember seeing him hit the ball right out of the park (something i miss now that they have the new park… but i do love comerica) it was amazing. i can picture him quietly running around the bases with that cross hanging around his neck. as big of a hockey fan as i was to become a few years later i remember, i remember wanting nothing more than to play baseball for the detroit tigers as a kid. and it all started with him.
I was just as blown away today when i heard the news. prince was one of the few players that i enjoyed to watch even though he was on another team and now i am excited about baseball in January… with the red wings in first place and hockey in full swing im excited about baseball. i cant wait.
and sry about my grammam and spelling and lack of punctuation
im not stupid… im just lazy lol
by Drumbum87 on Jan 25, 2012 1:13 AM EST up reply actions 1 recs
you grew up in Manton?
im from Mesick, (so ill understand if you ban me)
loved up there from detroit in elementary school
now we just have to find someone from mcbain!
by Kurt Mensching on Jan 25, 2012 9:15 AM EST up reply actions
My grandfather was born and raised in Mcbain!
And few cousins of mine still live that way. I’ve spent my whole life in St. Johns and Lansing though. My grandfather also had land near Traverse City we went to frequently, on the way to which we would take the highway right through Manton (even after the highway was built) and we would also stop at the Merry Inn. One of the very few memories I have pre age 5 is sitting in the Merry Inn, amazed at the size of the cinnamon rolls, they are still some of the biggest I’ve seen.
by RewertsSpartan on Jan 25, 2012 9:21 AM EST up reply actions
there we got, now I've got both of Manton's rivals from my youth covered
I haven’t been back to Manton in a decade now. The new 131 has a terrific view of my old house, as it pretty much squashed my youth stomping ground in concrete.
by Kurt Mensching on Jan 25, 2012 9:32 AM EST up reply actions
Makes for a faster trip
But I enjoy the nostalgia of taking the old 131.
by RewertsSpartan on Jan 25, 2012 9:44 AM EST up reply actions
I'm sure the winding, hilly road from Cadillac is a lot more interesting
that big hill just south of Manton was really interesting at times in winter! It prepared me for the U.P. nicely!
by Kurt Mensching on Jan 25, 2012 10:08 AM EST up reply actions
i HATED that old road
never had to take it much, because i tried to stay away from ‘you people’ as much as possible (jk), but you’d leave cadillac and your shocks wouldnt make it to kalkaska. nothin but cracks.
One of my best friends from college is from Marion
He always talked about hating McBain with a passion, for reasons I could not discern. (Although I’m sure he was equally puzzled by me hating anyone who went to Catholic Central High School for no reason.)
"I believe in a good kick in the ass. This— I believe. " -- Walker Percy
I tweet about stuff sometimes @jackhitts.
McBain is really good at sports
Marion, which may as well be McBain and is just a few miles down the road, isn’t. (Although they did have two schools in Marion when you count the Christian school.)
As for Manton-McBain, they were a big rival but not the chief one when I was there. They were then, as they are now, great at football. But we bested them in basketball and baseball when I went to school.
by Kurt Mensching on Jan 25, 2012 6:14 PM EST up reply actions
I think he went to the Christian school
But didn’t actually play sports. I think they just had an irrational hate of McBain in the same way that Springfield hates Shelbyville.
"I believe in a good kick in the ass. This— I believe. " -- Walker Percy
I tweet about stuff sometimes @jackhitts.
...or like Inwood hated Alvinston.
(Sorry, old small-town hometown baseball rivalries die pretty hard, don’t they?)
by frisbeepilot on Jan 25, 2012 6:52 PM EST up reply actions
Unfortunatley I don't have that personal experience
I went to Catholic HS in the suburbs, so we just hated the other Catholic schools. Not because they were in a particular suburb or a different town. Just… because. (I think we hated DeLaSalle simply because their nickname was stupid. Purple Pilots? What the hell is that?)
"I believe in a good kick in the ass. This— I believe. " -- Walker Percy
I tweet about stuff sometimes @jackhitts.
I do remember 1984.....
It was fan- tastic! But I also remember when the senior Mr. Fielder played, that too was fantastic! Here’s to many fantastic seasons ahead with Prince and the team that will have my heart forever, My Blessed Detroit Tigers.
Who remembers that Tiger Logo that would growl before each game
And when they were playing bad it had a ice patch over it’s head but still let out a little growl : )
Also remember how great it was to actualy find a game on TV in the early 90’s, Fox Sports Detroit wasn’t around back then.
I remember that Tiger logo.
Awesome. Haven’t thought about that in years.
And isn’t it time someone with photoshop made a pic of Gerald Laird celebrating the Prince signing?
Here
Win: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qb1O-ASWjfo
Loss: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vu4q7yw1YEg
"I believe in a good kick in the ass. This— I believe. " -- Walker Percy
I tweet about stuff sometimes @jackhitts.
Thanks for reminding me of that.
I had totally forgotten about the Tiger growl logo on the telecasts. I also remember the wounded kitty logo with the ice patch. I seemed to think they used if the team lost but I might be mistaken on that.
I really like those old days when the games were only occasionally on broadcast television. It definitely made for appointment viewing. And I absolutely loved the voices of George Kell and Al Kaline. When you’d catch one of those spring training telecasts with the bright green lawn and the familiar voices during the cold, dark, dread of a Michigan winter…well, that was like a glimpse of heaven!
by St Barth Tiger on Jan 25, 2012 11:31 AM EST up reply actions
Great story
Getting Prince is really a dream come true.
Wonderful post
You brought me back to my childhood with your great story. I am really excited as most of the Tigers fans are about another Fielder hitting homers in Detroit. What a great surprise and I can’t wait for Spring Training down here in Florida. RESTORE THE ROAR!!!!!!!!!!! Go Tigers!
thanks all
I don’t think it will be long before Prince becomes a lot of people’s Tigers
by Kurt Mensching on Jan 25, 2012 9:18 AM EST reply actions 2 recs
Great post
I’m a lot older than you, Kurt. I have vague memories of running into the yard with excitement at age 6 when the Tigers won the Series in 1968. And that 1984 team was all mine. But we share the memory of Cecil’s 50th home run. I was listening to the very same radio broadcast (Ernie and Paul!) sitting in my driveway when he hit it, and felt the same thrill. The etched-in common memory of those moments are what makes baseball so great.
I am very excited about Prince coming on board. By all accounts, he is a great teammate and leader in addition to being a fantastic player. That bodes really well for the vibe we’re going to see in the clubhouse.
All hail the Prince!
I rarely post messages, just like to read, but the signing of Prince necessitates a reply! As with others, Cecil Fielder was a baseball hero growing up. The drama of hitting 50 and 51 on the final day of the season is a great memory for many of us who were kids and baseball fans during that time. May Prince give us happiness as adults, and spark the interest and imagination of a new generation of Tigers fans over the next 9 years!
I know no one will believe me
But I had cooked up about two months maybe a month ago a scenario where the Tigers NEEDED to go get Prince. I mean this kinda puts a better bat at third base (Miggy) gets Prince at first. I think Inge could play ss or 2nd as well as he has third. Not like we have had a good ever day player in the middle of the field anyway. Anyone with thoughts on this?
by Bernard J Shepherd on Jan 25, 2012 10:54 AM EST reply actions
Nice article, thanks for sharing the memories!
I remember too that hitting fifty home runs was a huge deal. I had started closely following baseball in 1987 because a few players had come close to fifty but came up short (Mcgwire & Dawson each had 49 in 1987) so it was definitely a number with an aura about it.
So as Cecil got inched closer to 50 I was excited but already an experienced enough of a fan to have braced myself for disappointment. He had 49 going into the last game of the season in New York. I don’t know why exactly but the game didn’t seem to be on TV (maybe because it was a Sunday during NFL season?) but I remember being at my grandparents house and ESPN broke the news with a special alert.
It was awesome. My brother and I were jumping around, high fiving and stuff. Then like half an hour later there was another update because he hit another home run. 51, oh yeah! Good times.
by St Barth Tiger on Jan 25, 2012 11:23 AM EST reply actions
Great Article Kurt!!
I too am a child of the 80’s, although I lived in WI in the late 80’s early 90’s, but my Dad and I used to venture to Milwaukee County Stadium when the Tigers were in town to see Fielder, Trammel, Lou, Deer, and Tettleton battle Yount and Molitor. I have some great memories as that was the first Tigers team I recall watching and cheering for (I was 2 in ’84). As a youngster I watched a lot of Braves games, just because all their games were on TV (TBS). It was either them or the Cubs on WGN, but never the Tigers.
Technology has done a lot for us these past 20 years. Being able to enjoy Tigers baseball outside of Michigan is one of them.
Can’t wait to enjoy this team with little Fielder on board. Go Tigers!
Drink, and Drink, and Drink, and Drink, and Drink, and Drink, and Fight!
by Brand New Hero on Jan 25, 2012 11:33 AM EST reply actions
Cecil was a favorite
I remember coming up to Detroit each summer after my family moved to Arkansas. I would always go to a Tigers game. We were playing the Blue Jays, Cecil’s former team, and we were still in contention in August. I convinced my dad we needed to get to the game early for batting practice. We had seats way up in upper deck leftfield. We moved down to about row 10 in the upper deck and sat there for 20 minutes. No one, including Fielder, was coming close to hitting a ball in the upper deck. So finally, we move back up to our seats. About 5 pitches later Cecil hit a ball to those seats we moved from. I’m still traumatized over not being able to catch a ball!
I was 9....
when Cecil joined the team. I was a big Baseball fan in general but I became obsessive during the Cecil era. He was my absolute favorite player.
We lived too far from the park to see games often but I clearly remember my first game in Tiger Stadium against Baltimore, sitting in the upper deck and getting to see my favorite player hit for real live in the flesh.
In fact that time left me with a lot of memories like when he hit the ball out of Tiger Stadium off of Dave Stewart in a game against Oakland (On the roof, over the roof, GONE! Homerun for Cecil!). I was young so at that point he might as well had been a superhero to me then, truly no mere mortal possessed enough strength to hit the ball OVER Tiger Stadium.
By the time I take my oldest to her next game at the CoPa she will be 9 years old too and she will get to see Cecil’s son play for her favorite team, this is just truly amazing, and I couldn’t feeler any cooler, or older all at the same time.
I’m still reeling about all of this though, as Austin Jackson said (more or less) this is the kind of stuff you see in a video game, not in real life.
Really looking forward to this season!
by Anthony Steven Lewis on Jan 25, 2012 12:39 PM EST reply actions
I was already out here in So Cal by the time Cecil arrived in Detroit
I always followed the Tigers as closely as I could, but it was a lot more difficult in Cecil’s time. That was before Al Gore invented the internet, or at least before I copped on to what I could find out on the net, so I was pretty much limited to what I got on ESPN. I still went to see them every single time they were in town (have not missed a Tiger series in 27 years) and I had news clippings sent to me in bulk, but it wasn’t like it is now, where I can watch just as much Tiger baseball as anyone in Detroit.
I think what that does is, although there has to be less familiarity with the players because I didn’t see them playing every day, they become sort of legendary in the moment. Cecil was a regular feature on Sportscenter. Those Tiger teams were not the same caliber as the boys of ‘68, or ’84. During Cecil’s tenure in Detroit, he was a bright spot on some bad teams. They never made the playoffs, and usually had a losing record. Whitaker and Trammell were still there, as was Sparky, but they had some bad pitching. Cecil and Mickey Tettleton led a Tiger offense that was very potent, and lots of fun to watch when I had the chance. All that I saw of Cecil was very positive, and it bugged me that he and Prince didn’t get along very well. I’m really ecstatic to see Prince coming back to Detroit.
"King of Minutiae"
I remember taping the news the next night
Channel 4, Bernie Smilovitz — he showed the highlight from the previous night in New York when Cecil hit his 50th and 51st. I believe the clip had Paul Carey’s call behind it. I must’ve watched that tape dozens of times.
A student of mine (big baseball fan, also is a catcher, already working on him to join the school’s team in the spring) and I spent a good 15 minutes of the tutorial period this morning working out the Tigers’ potential lineup, pros and cons, and where to put people in the field. Then we sketched-out a lineup for ’13, when VMart comes back. Fuuuunnnnnnn.
Cecil Memories
Sometimes BYB makes me feel like I am 142 years old when I’m actually 55. Reading stories from “children of the 80’s” intensifies that feeling.
My memories of Cecil hitting his 50th go back to a conversation my Dad and I had during spring training of 1986. While talking about the Tiger’s chances we both were kicking around names we wanted the Tigers to aquire. Dad always talked baseball and always bought those preseason magazines and another little booklet called “Who’s Who in Baseball” He always seemed to have a handle on the kids that were coming up and which ones would be stars. He insisted the Tigers should go after that big kid from Toronto Seesill Fielder. Later I would realize he had read about Fielder because no one referred to him as Seesill.
My Dad died the week of the World Series in 1986. He did not live to see See-sill play for the Tigers. But when the Tigers signed Fielder a few years later and when Ernie called Cecil’s 50th and 51st home runs I fllashed back to the old man telling me about this big kid that Toronto had and how he would be a perfect fit in Tiger Stadium. For me baseball memories revolve around five people, my Dad, my older brother, and my wife, son and daughter. That’s why I love baseball so much. I remembember Cecil hitting 50 home runs and hearing Ernie Harwell call it but I couldn’t name a player from the Lions, Pistons or Redwings from that era.
I’ve often wondered why baseball endures more than other sports, in fans memories Maybe it’s because the season is so long giving us all a chance to discuss the game more. Maybe it’s because like life the game is not measured by a clock. Who really knows why baseball stays with so many of us for so long. For a lot of us though, it was because we learned the game from someone close to us. In my case my Dad and Brother listening on the radio, sitting in the breezeway in the early 60’s.
That’s why it was grest to read your story Kurt because you discovered the game on your own. And baseball hooked you. Now you are helping a new generation of Tiger fans build memories. Perhaps some day a Detroit fan will write about Prince Fielder hitting HIS 50th homer run in 12 and how they were watching the game on their computer while commenting about it in the Bless You Boys game thread!
One more for the road...
Direct re-post of my profile page for the story behind “51hr_slurpee” username…
[PROFILE]
The 51 homer slurpee is the 7-11 Slurpee that our PE teacher bought for the 8th graders when Cecil fielder had 49 HR with a game left and came through with 2 on the last day. We earned the drink with #50, #51 was a bonus (and another treat!)… Thanks, Gary Zittle and Cecil!
[/PROFILE]
Glad to see another slugger like our old Cecil in the lineup. All of the comps between father-son are irrelevant – Prince is his own man and OUR own Tiger now! I hope the media can find the time to compare his season to Pujols and Texiera instead of his dad, but I can see beat reporters looking to play the broken family card with every interview this year.
Guillen says‚ "¿Que?"
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