Prince Fielder
From BR Bullpen
Prince Semien Fielder
- Bats Left, Throws Right
- Height 6' 0", Weight 260 lb.
- High School Eau Gallie High School
- Debut June 13, 2005
- Born May 18, 1984 in Ontario, CA USA
[edit] Biographical Information
Prince Fielder, the son of Cecil Fielder, came to the majors at a young age with a lot of hype. He proved his potential in 2007 by leading the National League with 50 home runs.
Like his father, Prince Fielder is a big man. He was listed at 260 lbs. at the age of 22 and was said to be 280 pounds in his first year out of high school.
Fielder was born in Ontario, CA (40 miles east of Los Angeles) in 1984, the year before his father hit the big leagues for the first time. According to Alan Trammell and Ernie Harwell, Fielder hit a ball into the upper deck of Tiger Stadium at age 12. Fielder went to high school in Florida, and was named a First Team High School All-American at first base after hitting .524 and slugging 1.134 as a senior. He produced 77 runs in 82 AB that year. He was drafted in the first round by the Milwaukee Brewers in 2002, the 7th overall pick and second position player (following B.J. Upton). He signed for $2.4 million.
Fielder immediately made a big impression at the Rookie Level at Ogden of the Pioneer League, where he posted .390/.531/.678 and was named Rookie League All-Star DH by Baseball America. Moving up to the Beloit Snappers that same year, in the Single A Midwest League, he was at first struggling with a .241/.320/.384 line in 31 games. Baseball America listed him as the 9th-best first base prospect in baseball and the #4 prospect in the Pioneer League.
But the next year, 2003, he showed that he could dominate the Midwest League, as he put up numbers of .313/.409/.526 with 27 home runs, 15 times hit-by-pitch, 112 RBI and 16 intentional walks. He was named the Midwest Player of the Year, and the Milwaukee Brewers Minor League Player of the Year. His Triple Crown try fell short but he was still tied for third in the MWL in average, led in RBI and intentional walks, was second to Jayson Drobiak in homers and second to Drobiak in slugging and Jon-Mark Sprowl in OBP. He was named to the league All-Star team, was named the top prospect in the league (by both the league and Baseball America) and was rated the #4 prospect among minor league first basemen behind Casey Kotchman, Jason Stokes and James Loney.
2004 brought him to Huntsville in the Southern League, where he had numbers of .272/.366/.473 with 23 home runs, and was again named Milwaukee Brewers Minor League Player of the Year. Despite turning 20 years old only, he was tied for third in a AA league in homers, was judged by BA to have the best strike-zone discipline in the circuit and was the cleanup hitter for the USA in the Futures Game.
In 2005, he was up at Nashville in the AAA PCL, where he posted a line of .291/.388/.569 with 28 home runs before he came to the majors. Despite getting called up to Milwaukee, he still was just 3 homers behind PCL leader Luke Scott. He was ranked as the #3 prospect in the PCL.
In 39 games with the Brewers in 2005, he hit .288/.306/.458 at the age of 21. Lyle Overbay, who had played 158 games with the Brewers in 2005, mostly at first base, hitting 19 home runs with 76 RBI, was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays to make room for Fielder.
Around the end of July 2006, Fielder had 18 home runs and was hitting .288/.345/.501. He played in virtually every Brewers game in 2006. He dropped off a bit with his final 2006 numbers of .271/.347/.483.
In 2007, Fielder set the Brewers franchise home run record with his 46th of the year. Gorman Thomas's 45 had been the record for 28 years, with Richie Sexson having tied Thomas twice. He also became the youngest player in MLB history to hit 50 homers in a season. Fielder wanted to surpass his father's career high but failed to do so that year. He and his dad were estranged at this point in time.
Russell Branyan and David Bell have played with both Cecil and Prince Fielder.
"As soon as Prince Fielder was ready, I knew they'd probably move me." - Lyle Overbay talking about his tenure with the Milwaukee Brewers
[edit] Notable Achievements
- 2006 Topps All-Star Rookie Team
- NL All-Star (2007)
- NL Silver Slugger Award Winner (2007)
- NL Home Runs Leader (2007)
- 20-Home Run Seasons: 3 (2006-2008)
- 30-Home Run Seasons: 2 (2007 & 2008)
- 40-Home Run Seasons: 1 (2007)
- 50-Home Run Seasons: 1 (2007)
- 100 RBI Seasons: 2 (2007 & 2008)
- 100 Runs Scored Seasons: 1 (2007)
