25 Brewers in 25 Days : Prince Fielder

25 in 25 begins with pound for pound, the most important player on the roster - 1st baseman Prince Fielder. In 2009 Prince had the best season by a player in the Milwaukee Brewers 40-year history. He had a .299 average (which could have topped .300 had Tony LaRussa allowed his pitchers to pitch to him instead of intentionally walking him in his final at bat of the season), .412 on base percentage, 46 HRs, 141 RBIs and 110 walks. Monstrous numbers. He shattered Cecil Cooper's club record of 126 RBIs and topped Jeromy Burnitz's record of 99 walks in a season. He somehow finished an appalling 4th place in the NL MVP race. I'll admit Hanley Ramirez (2nd) and Ryan Howard (3rd) had damn fine years, and Albert Pujols (1st) was the best player in all of baseball, but it blows my mind that Prince didn't get more votes. The only excuses I can think of is that he plays in one of the smallest markets and his team didn't make the playoffs. None of those reasons are supposed to factor into MVP voting, but take away Prince from this lineup and it is drastically different. The only player that means that much to their team is Albert Pujols, which is why I have no problem with him winning for the 2nd consecutive year. He put up the numbers to deserve it. But enough about that slugger, I'm here to talk about the Prince.

When Prince first came up in 2005 you could tell that this kid was special. His arrival ended Lyle Overbay's time in Milwaukee, and as a member of Bill and Darron's Buckethead Brigade I was one of the many who would miss the "Ooooooooooooo" chants. But watching the power of the Prince changed those "Ooooooooooo's" into "wooooooooooooooah's!" This guy could just flat out hit. When he connected with a ball, there was never a doubt that it was a homerun. He has had so many majestic Miller Highlife Moon Shots that I'm sure there are indentations in the scoreboard. I know I once saw him take out a couple of lights on the display in deep center, and they remained broken until the end of that season. I can go on for hours about the Prince Fielder highlights that I have seen in person, but there are too many to cover here. But I would like to point out a few.

I have seen not just one but both of Prince Fielder's in the park homeruns in person. One was at Miller Park and the other was in the Metrodome. Not too bad for a guy who is "officially" listed at 270 pounds. Watching Prince chug around the bases like a runaway locomotive is a sight that I will never forget. The first one (at the Metrodome) had me jumping up and down screaming, "no fucking way that just happened!" But it did happen. It would be one of a million highlights in his young career. I was at Miller Park on September 25, 2007 when Prince hit homerun #50 and became the youngest player in MLB history to hit 50 homeruns in a season. And at a Brewers vs. Indians game in Goodyear, Arizona, last year when I was down there for Spring Training, I got his autograph on a ball that I couldn't keep. I got tons of autographs that weekend, but the one that mattered most was getting Craig Counsell for my brother James, who was about to move to South Carolina. He's our favorite player (half serious, half inside joke) and at that game he signed my ball. Then Prince Fielder walked up, and I only had that Counsell-signed ball on me. So I had Prince sign it, because how are you not going to get Prince Fielder's autograph? But as promised, I gave it to my brother, and it became the best autograph I ever got. Those are just a few personal memories of Prince, and I'm sure you have plenty of your own.

If you haven't noticed, I'm a little sentimental on the big fella. After the Brewers won the NL Wild Card in 2008 I was hanging out at this bar Karma and Prince, CC Sabathia, Mike Cameron and Bill Hall were there partying it up. I stood next to him and realized that I am his white body double. I probably weigh a couple more pounds, but we were the same reasonable height and build. It was then that this man became my long lost brother from another mother. The reason I'm so hung up on him is because it's almost inevitable that this will be Prince's last season in Milwaukee. He is a free agent after the 2011 season and will be entering his final year of arbitration. He is making somewhere around $10 million this season, and there is no reason to doubt that he will make over $15 million next year if he has a similar year at the plate. Unless we can sign him to a long term deal (which is a hotly debated topic here in Milwaukee, one that I will most certainly address in the near future but not today, as it is a rather lengthy debate) we have to trade him in the offseason to maximize the return of players that we need (young pitching). So enjoy every day that we have Prince Fielder, because there will come a day when the only time you'll be seeing him is in a different uniform.

But let's not dwell on that. But we kind of have to because Prince Fielder is the Milwaukee Brewers offense. BOOM! Take him out of the lineup and the entire dynamic changes. One of the reasons why Ryan Braun is so good is because he has Prince Fielder behind him in the lineup. The leadoff and #2 hitter will see their stats inflated (most notable the runs scored) because Prince is going to hit well over 100 RBIs. He's too good not to. Which makes the #5 hitter so valuable, because as you saw last year, Prince is starting to rack up a good amount of intentional walks. So the guys batting behind him are huge. Prince was also the only player in all of baseball to play all 162 games last year, so he's in there every single day making a difference. He has also worked on his defense, and trains rigorously to maintain his body weight so as not to hamper his abilities. And from what I hear, he is also the leader on and off the field. On the field he leads by example and in the clubhouse he gets everyone ramped up for games while at the same time keeping them loose with humor and jokes. He is a player that is invaluable to the team that he plays for, which is why he is coveted so much.

The Brewers had a top 5 offense in the National League last year, which they certainly needed to overcome the worst pitching staff in the National League. Prince Fielder was a huge part of that offense, and even though the pitching staff has improved with the additions of Doug Davis and Randy Wolf, the Brewers will once again need to lean on their offense to win games. I'm not saying that Prince Fielder will have to carry to offense because he certainly has enough weapons around him, but if need be he will be able to do so. The Prince is mighty enough to put the team on his back and carry them for a little while, but I'd rather see everyone else step up so that Prince can calmly sit back and do his job, which is to drive in runs.

Prince Fielder is not the most important piece of the puzzle for success in 2010, but he's right up there. I'm going to go ahead and give my prediction for his 2010 season:

.305 batting average, .405 OBP, 42 HRs, 136 RBIs, 105 walks. He will once again make the NL All-Star team and will finish in the top 3 of the NL MVP voting.

I could probably go on some more about Prince, but chances are you've already stopped reading by now. I'll try to keep these to a minimum but sometimes I have too much to say and just can't stop typing. Even if it means I'm still working on this at 1:30 in the morning when I have to wake up at 7:30 AM. But that just goes to show how dedicated I am to the Brewers and my promise to do 25 in 25. In summation Prince Fielder is amazing. In every way, shape and form. I probably could have said that instead of all the garbage I put on this page. I'll keep that in mind for next time.

And speaking of next, tomorrow's entry will be 2nd baseman Rickie Weeks, who once again is entering a make it or break it year. But that my friends, is a topic that will be covered tomorrow. Brewers! Brewers! Keep Turnin' Up the Heat!

- pookon -

www.pookon.com
email: pookondotcom@gmail.com