Prince Fielder had fun. For the first seven years of his career, he shared that fun with the crowds that flocked to Miller Park to watch him teach baseballs how to fly. Sitting in the outfield had never been more fun.
But the fun, at least the baseball portion of it, came to an end Tuesday, as reports circulated, revealing the sad truth that the big man with an even bigger smile would no longer be playing baseball.
After a second surgery was performed to address disk herniations in his neck, word spread that Fielder would not be medically cleared to return to baseball. The official word has not yet dropped, but multiple reports with sources close to the situation have confirmed that the Texas Rangers will have a press conference Wednesday to reveal the information publicly.
As it stands, what remains on paper is $104 million due through 2020 — $44 million from the Rangers, $24 million from the Detroit Tigers and $36 million from an insurance policy Texas received during the Ian Kinsler trade deal in 2013.
More importantly, what’s left is the legacy of a man who played baseball so hard, the sporting world had to stop just to watch him swing. Even though his violent stroke may be what ultimately ended his career early at 32 years old, it was one that brought joy to the fans who watched him, records to the teams he played for, and souvenirs to anyone brave enough to seat themselves in the outfield when he played.
Fielder was selected by the Milwaukee Brewers in the first round of the 2002 draft, with the seventh overall pick. He signed with the team and started his career in the rookie-ball Pioneer League but was promoted to Class A before season’s end. By 2005, he was already with the Brewers’ Triple-A Nashville Sounds.
He got his first call-up June 13, 2005 as a DH during interleague play against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, but went 0-for-4 in his first game. His first hit came off of Hideo Nomo — who was reeling after his late-career resurgence with the Los Angeles Dodgers two years prior – with a line drive double to right field in the top of the second, nearly scoring Bill Hall.
After a pair of fly-outs in the fourth and seventh, Fielder finally muscled another double, this time off of Danys Baez, into center field, scoring Hall and recording the first RBI of his career. On June 25, he tallied his first home run, a three-run shot, before being sent back down to the minors a few days later. He was recalled mid-August and finished the season with the team as a pinch hitter, recording only one more home run and four RBI.
In 2006, after only 39 games in the majors, Fielder became the starting first baseman when the Brewers traded Lyle Overbay to the Toronto Blue Jays. After a rough first two games left him 0-for-9 with seven strikeouts, he started hitting and never stopped. His first RBI came a day later and it was a game winner. His first home run came in game five of the season, and in his first 18 games, he had already totaled three.
By season’s end, Fielder’s 28 home runs led all rookies, but the young slugger was just getting started.
The 2007 season showed even more promise as he set the Brewers franchise record with 50 home runs –as well as the league record for the youngest player ever to hit 50 home runs at 23– and also tied Robin Yount‘s 1982 record for most extra-base hits in a season (87). The performance earned him a spot on the All-Star team at first base. He was named the Brewers’ Team MVP, given the National League’s Hank Aaron Award and a Silver Slugger. He ended the season batting a massive .288/.395/.618 with 109 runs and 119 RBI.
Despite never coming to an agreement with the team for a multi-year contract, Fielder stuck with a one-year deal for $670,000. He was worth every penny, as even in a “down” year, he still hit .276/.372/.507 with 86 runs, 34 home runs, and 102 RBI, helping to lead the team to their first playoff appearance since 1982.
The following season marked a pinnacle in Fielder’s career as he found all-around success that would forever cement him in the hearts of fans throughout the game.
After signing an $18 million two-year contract with Milwaukee, he went on to a monster season in which he set the Brewers franchise records for most RBI in a single season with a whopping 141, most walks (110) and tied the record for most games played (162), while also batting a phenomenal .299/.412/.602 with 46 home runs and 103 runs. It again earned him a spot on the All-Star team, but more impressively, made him a shoe-in for the Home Run Derby.
Fielder went on to win the derby with 23 – sixth most in history at the time – and also recorded it’s longest with a 503-foot blast. He repeated the feat in 2012 with the Detroit Tigers notching 28, currently tied for ninth most with Yoenis Cespedes. He is second all-time with 81.
He made an even bigger splash with fans when his third career walk-off home run against the San Francisco Giants in the bottom of the 12th ended with one of the most iconic celebrations in recent history.
More of the same came in 2010, as another one of his “down” seasons still had him raking 32 home runs and 83 RBI while hitting .261/.401/.471.
In his final season in Milwaukee, on a one-year $15.5 million contract, Fielder helped lead the team’s charge to becoming National League Central Division champions, through the National League Division Series against the Arizona Diamondbacks (3-2) and into the National League Championship Series against the St. Louis Cardinals, until they finally lost in Game 6.
In the process, he became the All-Star game MVP with a three-run home run, collected another Silver Slugger award, came in third in the NL MVP voting, and batted .299/.415/.566 with 38 home runs and 120 RBI.
He left the team the following season, signing with the Tigers on a nine-year $214 million contract, much to the dismay of Brewers fans.
But what he left behind was much more than just the image of a first baseman for a small-market team.
His legacy with the Brewers and the sport as a whole will undoubtedly stand the test of time.
For a kid drafted straight out of high school, Fielder brought nothing short of a baseball renaissance in Milwaukee, leading them to two playoff appearances after seeing none in over two decades. He was the second player behind Ken Griffey Jr. to win multiple Home Run Derbies. He hit 30 or more home runs in six straight seasons and drove in more than 100 runs in three.
He was feared enough to set the Brewers single-season record for intentional walks in 2011 with 32, but beloved enough to appear on ESPN’s 2014 Body Issue cover, bare as the day he was born.
More than all else, he helped many fans who had grown weary of a losing team, adrift in a sea of big-market perennial success, find love in baseball again, a point exemplified by an attendance increase of nearly 1 million fans from 2005-2011.
His career as a baseball player might be over, but his future as one of the greats is surely just beginning.
Jonathan Powell is the Brewers Staff Writer for Outside Pitch MLB. Follow me on Twitter @JP_OPSN.
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