The Prince and the Pauper Machine
The Prince
Yes, that is little Prince Fielder with his dad Cecil in D-Town. Well, Prince has finally landed and it is a little shocking where he landed. Well, maybe it was this because I wasn’t following too closely. What, with college football bowl games, the NFL playoffs, the start-up of the NHL season, Sidney Crosby back and then gone again, the NBA lockout and then the beginning of their season, this has been a busy, crazy and fun past few months. Even though I love baseball only less than football, it’s been hard to keep an eye on the things going on in baseball.
So, where did he go? You probably already know this, especially if you’re Eminem or anyone else associated with the Motor City, but he is now a Detroit Tiger. Funny, how things come to pass. Even though he has a strained, at best, relationship with his father Cecil Fielder, Prince will now be playing in the same uniform that his dad did throughout his career. I have to say that this is a HUGE land by the Tigers and this probably makes them the front-runner in the AL Central, if they weren’t already. I think it will be interesting to see what Leyland does with Prince and Cabrera, as they’re both 1st basemen. Will they put either in the DH spot? Move Cabrera to 3rd, where he played that position while in Miami? It will be interesting and Detroit definitely has a national interest now.
The Machine
Meanwhile, back in the beginning of December, Albert “The Machine” Pujols chose to take his talents to the City of Angels…only it was with the Angels not the Dodgers that he will suit up for. Pujols makes LA one of the premier teams in baseball. This deal will be great for LA for the next 5 years or so, but I think they will begin to regret it soon after that as Pujols’ numbers already have started to slide. It speaks of the class and character that he is and has, when news came out that he restructured his deal so they could bring in another piece in CJ Wilson. I think it would be a very interesting AL Championship Series if both LA of Anaheim and Detroit got there. One can only wish.
We all know that players in all sports go from team to team, either in trade or free agency. It no longer is a sports world where you grow up and get old watching your favorite player play for your own team throughout their entire career. I was fortunate to see a legend in Darrell Green (the greatest cornerback in NFL history, in my opinion) start and end his career in Redskins Burgundy and Gold. I was even more fortunate when my beautiful wife, who was my girlfriend at the time, gave me the greatest Christmas gift ever. In 2002, she gave me tickets to the Redskins – Cowboys game. This was the last game of the season and the last game Green ever played. What a day to see the Skins not only beat the Cowboys but for the fans, staff, players and whole franchise honor a man who graced us with his presence. And everyone, not just me, have those moments. Think back to your childhood heroes. Now, I knew that day that I would probably never see something like that again. And that part of the above stories is sad. St. Louis and Milwaukee should be able to celebrate those players’ careers. Pujols should always wear an StL on his cap and Fielder an M with a wheat stalk on his. It’s a sad day when such a great player leaves a city and franchise that he made himself with to go to another one. That is why I enjoyed it when I saw Joe Mauer was going to stay in Minnesota.
But, as much as I hate to see Albert leave the Gateway to the West and Prince leave Brew Town, as a diehard (and boy do we ever) Cubs fan I ABSOLUTELY, FREAKING LOVE IT!! HAHA, the Central is OURS again…er, not. Yeah, it’s full on rebuild-mode in the Windy City and will probably take 3-5 years before Chicago can have a winner again on the North Side. I was hoping Theo would lock Prince up but understand why and where he is going. But to not see those two about 16 times every year? I love it! And…we can’t forget Mr. NL Most Roided Valuable Player out for 50 games or so, wow. Yeah, these two teams are going to be a shell of themselves for at least the next couple of seasons. I know St. Louis has a plan in place, and it’s better than what Milwaukee is going to go through, but come on?!?! Can you really believe that losing Pujols is not going to be that big? Plus, outside of the All-Star Game, Tony LaRussa will not be managing this year. I think having both Fielder and Pujols leave the NL Central is the biggest free agency move Chicago could have asked for. But with the same breath, I also believe these two days to be sad days for all of us sports fans.
