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Baby boy, the Prince, runs away with Derby title
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National League's Prince Fielder of the Milwaukee Brewers watches his winning home run during the final round of the MLB baseball Home Run Derby in St. Louis, Monday, July 13, 2009. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
Long live the Prince. Prince Fielder won the Home Run Derby in St. Louis on Monday night, , dare I say, better than the time Ryan Braun won the National League rookie of the year. In the process, Fielder may have finally put a definitive stamp on his brand and shown that he is a top tier star in the Big Leagues. He’d be a very good choice for an ESPN commercial, or to be the face of your new video game.
Fielder gets his share of adulation from Milwaukee baseball fans, but it's surprising there is not even more fervor. Baseball fans memory is short. Ryan Braun (himself an All-Star) has slumped since his comments ripping the Brewers pitching staff — going 3-for-26. Milwaukee fans hate when athletes forget their humility, and Braun’s comments, preceded by his unveiling of his own T-shirt line last month and followed by a week of poor performance, have his stock rapidly dropping among the blue-collar crowd.
Fielder was cast off by fans last year for what was perceived to be a similar preening attitude. He was fat, he fought with a pitcher, he wouldn’t give the Brewers a home-town discount in contract negotiations and he became a vegetarian — an idea as foreign and pompous to many Wisconsinites as $100 fashion T-shirts. Despite setting the single season home run record for a Brewers player the previous year, he didn’t inspire hero worship and man-crushes. Prince is not Ryan Braun. He wasn't even the fans' favorite superstar player they know the club can’t afford in the future. Prince is not C.C. Sabathia.
But Fielder did re-up with the Crew, for a fair, if brief, contract. He’ll be making similar money to what Albert Pujols earned through his first five years in the Major Leagues. Prince is not Albert Pujols. That point was made abundantly clear throughout the Derby, as the St. Louis fans cheered loud and often for the National League’s starting first baseman. Prince would be in that role, and the leading candidate for league MVP through the first half, if not for the future Hall of Famer Pujols. Prince will never mean what Pujols means to the modern Cardinals fan. Prince can't go back in time and hit the first home run at Miller Park, as Pujols did in a 6-4 win over the Brewers to open the third Busch Stadium in 2006. But he can score that kind of adoration — all he has to do is win the MVP next year, re-sign and win the World Series the year after that.
Many Brewers fans spouted wisdom of a certain convention this weekend that it was best for Prince to either be eliminated from the Derby early, like in 2007 when he only hit three homers. That way he wouldn't screw up his swing for the second half of the season. But the more they thought about it, they began to realize Prince doesn't have a fine-tuned, finessed swing. He takes a big, yawping swap at the ball, and his only strategy is to hit the ball hard — even if he swings out of his shoes or falls on the ground. Then those fans remembered that helicopter whop and say, “Well, unless he just wins the whole damn thing.”
Regardless of your attitudes about the competition that is the Home Run Derby — that it jumped the shark just like the Slam Dunk Contest, or whatever, I think it’s awesome — this is the greatest inconsequential sports title ever for an athlete playing in Wisconsin. This is better than the time Ray Allen won the 3-point contest, better than all those times Brett Favre was on the cover of Sports Illustrated.
Suddenly, in the eyes of the baseball fans of the world, and hopefully Milwaukee, Prince is not arrogant. Prince is not fat; a veggie; a prima dona; Cecil’s kid. He’s the home run champ.
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