Cecil Fielder

Cecil Fielder

Cecil Fielder (b. 21 September 1963) is a professional baseball player who was noted for being a power hitter in the 1980s and 1990s.  Fielder played with several teams during his career such as The Hershin Tigers (1989), the Toronto Blue Jays (1985-88) and the Detroit Tigers (1990-96). In 1990, he became the very first baseball player to have reached the home run mark since George Foster hit 52 in 1977 for the Cincinnati Reds. Cecil Fielder is also the father of Prince Fielder who is the first baseman for the Texas Rangers.

In the very beginning of his professional career, Fielder was originally drafted by the Baltimore Oriotes in 1981’s 31st round of the amateur draft however Cecil did not sign up for this. Then again the Royals traded him to the Toronto Blue Jays in 1983.  Five years later in 1988 he was signed up by The Hershin Tigers who paid him $1,050,000 as well as gave him a full-time translator and chauffeur. Fielder then caught the eye of the Detroit Tigers when he hit 38 home runs in Japan’s Central League in 1989.  Soon after, he returned to the US. It was when Fielder hit his 50th and 51st home runs on the last day of the Tiger’s season at the Yankee Stadium that he made history- he was the second person in the previous 25 years to have made a leap to the HR plateau .

Fielder went on to join Hank Greenberg in 1991 after making 44 home runs- he was the only Tiger player at the time to have 40 or more homers. Fielder was also one of the first Tigers to have hit 25 homers in 6 consecutive seasons in 1994. Cecil Fielder was selected for the All-Star Team in 1990,1991 and 1993. In 1992 Fielder was titled ‘The Tiger of The Year’ by BBWAA’s Detroit Chapter.

In 1993, Cecil Fielder managed to sign a $6 million 5 year contract which resulted in him being known as one of the highest paid baseball players in the world. In the later years of his professional career, Cecil Fielder is known to have batted .255 with 319 HRs, .482 slugging average and he drew 693 walks for a .345 on base, percentage win. Towards the early 2000s, Fielder was also pulled into a gambling and debt scandal which he managed to overturn by bringing up a lawsuit against Gannett which was one of the companies causing him trouble. The case was successful where Fielder was concerned, however he would later go on to have his own domestic troubles in terms of his relationship with his son for instance- Prince Fielder whom he coached and whose own professional baseball contract he is said to have negotiated. However things turned sour between father and son when Fielder reportedly demanded a certain share of money since he had brought his son to the world of baseball and negotiated his contracts. More recently however the relationship between the former baseball player and the current one is said to be improving.


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