FanHouse Cecil Fielder

Prince Fielder has talked extensively about his distaste for his own father, the former home run slugging Cecil Fielder. Some of this stems around Big C's behavior as Cecil was a young child, and some of it revolves around the older tater king's inability to successfully manage a budget.

So it should come as no huge surprise that Cecil finds himself on the wrong end of an IRS lien (like there's a right end). From the TaxWatchdog at Detroit News.

Former Detroit Tigers star Cecil Fielder owes $273,123.29 in federal taxes, the latest financial issue facing a slugger who has had a slew of money problems in recent years, records show.

The lien against Cecil, 45, comes five months after the Tax Watchdog first revealed that the IRS had filed a $409,149 tax lien against his estranged son, Milwaukee Brewers first baseman Prince Fielder.

Well, at least it's genetic. What? If you don't find unfunny hereditary tax jokes at least kind of laughable, I don't want to know you anyway.


But seriously, it's a sad thing to watch a guy that enthralled our country for at least a year of my childhood as he wailed away at the record books, launching bombs and making fat kids everywhere feel better about themselves.

But then again, it's not surprising that a guy who played like Cecil did (a "my performance ain't perfect but it's loud and it's fast" kind of way) finds himself in this sort of hot water, really. And given the economic times, I think we'll be less and less surprised to see who ends up in the same boat.

Prince Fielder's life seems unnecessarily hard. He's a naturally gifted ballplayer who has gotten all the opportunities in the world and really made something of himself, but he's got about as much joy as the Post-Crisis Mudville and can't seem to keep his Dad from leaning in the door and calling him a jerk. Seriously, the more I find out about Cecil and Prince Fielder's relationship the more they become comprable to Professor Farnsworth from Futurama and his clone son Cubert. Seems like Cecil only made the kid to be a little scapegoat version of himself.

I guess those shingles on the roof of Tiger Stadium cost a lot of money to replace. A Dugout about financial burden and the fat men who love them, after the jump.

With the rise of Prince Fielder's recent success in Milwaukee has come some rehashing of the rift between former Tigers slugger Cecil Fielder, and his equally portly son Prince. Father and son may share a skill for crushing the baseball (and a penchant for Mac and Don's), but the two share little else, including a relationship.

Those problems stem at least partly from Cecil's financial irresponsibility, or Prince's perception therein. Cecil's latest financial woes are going to do nothing to alter that perception:

In 2002, about a year before the Fielder's company defaulted on its lease, Stacey Fielder filed for divorce, which was formally granted in November 2004.

At that time, the Fielders listed as assets a home in Florida, a home in Irving, Texas and bonds, all totaling $1,280,000. ORIX claims in its lawsuit against Prince and his grandparents, Ernest and Ruby Granger of Ft. Bend County, that Cecil and Stacey Fielder transferred the two homes and bonds to their relatives prior to the divorce becoming final with the "intent to hinder, delay and/or defraud ORIX. In fact, [Prince Fielder and the Grangers] conspired to assist the Fielders in hiding these assets from ORIX."

ORIX claims it filed the lawsuit against Prince and his grandparents to "recover the value of these assets from the fraudulent transferees" and seeks "a declaration that the transfers from Cecil and Stacey Fielder" to their family members of the two homes and bonds "are void with respect to ORIX."

In other words, Prince just inherited Cecil's legal troubles. I'm not exactly a family therapist -- though I did watch a hotel commercial last night -- but I'm going to venture a guess and say that this isn't going to help Cecil get back in his son's life, at least not in a positive way.

(HT: SbB)

Last night when Prince Fielder hit his 50th homer, I mentioned that with his 50th bomb, he his dad, Cecil, become he only father son tandem in history to each hit 50 in a season. Of course, I wasn't the only person to realize this and someone mentioned it to Prince. With the recent history between the two, that went about as well as you'd expect.

Fielder said he had no intention of keeping the 50th home run ball, but was hoping for No. 52.

"My dad had 51 (as a season high)," Fielder said. "Then, he can't say anything."

Fielder was not happy about comments his father made in a magazine article earlier in the year, claiming his son never would have been a first-round draft pick if he hadn't paved the way. The two haven't spoken for years and that rift apparently has widened.

[...]

"That's why I'm so passionate about playing. I don't mind people comparing me to him but I'm a completely different player. One day I want people to mention my name and not have to mention his."

As for the recent comments from his father, Fielder said, "You've got to look at who's saying it. Let's be honest. He's not really the brightest guy."

What a grudge! Prince is 23, has 50 homers, and may well be the National League MVP this year and all he's worried about is that people think the only reason he ever got a shot was because of his dad. Who cares why? No one ever begrudged Mike Piazza for being a family friend of Tommy Lasorda. Prince needs to realize that the only reason people compare him to his dad is because people liked Cecil and now they like Prince. It's not a bad thing.

When he hasn't been totally consumed with not seeing Barry Bonds' record-setting home run, Bud Selig's had a pretty busy season suspending people for varied and often innocuous offenses. Mostly, he's been plotting ways to destroy Gary Sheffield. No luck yet!

So Prince Fielder can feel a little encouraged knowing he's not the first to get in trouble with his league, and he won't be the last. Fielder was suspended three games for being "inappropriate and aggressive" with the plate umpire last night. In a fit of anger, Fielder bumped the umpire. That's a no-no, Princey.

I know he's a grown man now, and out there on his own, but for some reason I'm picturing father Cecil scolding Prince and telling him "no hamburgers for two weeks," a worse fate, Prince might believe, than death. Both are fond, after all.

As the FynalCut reminds us, there was a time when Cecil Fielder and Prince Fielder were actually interacting as a loving, caring father-son duo. Such is the case in this McDonalds commercial, circa 1992.

You know, something just seems rather fitting about these two hawking cheeseburgers. I can't quite place my finger on it, though.

If there's any player who probably didn't take steroids -- besides Rafael Belliard -- it's probably Cecil Fielder. He was fat, out of shape, and naturally powerful. He joined the 50 home run club when it actually meant something -- you know, before Brady Anderson went out there and sullied the accomplishment with his abnormal burst in power. So Fielder came out and said baseball could not use ignorance as a defense for allowing performance-enhancing substances to run rampant throughout the game:

"If we didn't know, we ought to really slap ourselves if we didn't think something was going on in baseball - from the commissioner's office on down," said Fielder, the manager of an independent league team. "Guys were getting too big and too strong. Little guys turned into big guys. Baseball was doing so well at the time, everybody was turning away from it and letting it go on."

Fielder was getting set to make his exit from baseball around the time that the steroids issue became most prevalent -- 1998. So it's almost safe not to lump Cecil in with that crowd. I understand where he's coming from and agree with him. I was just as suspicious as the next person when skinny slap hitters started cranking 30 homers -- believe me, it messed with my fantasy baseball draft strategy. Fielder hit 51 in 1990 -- at Tiger Stadium no less. If anyone should be taking issue with the blind eye to steroids, Fielder certainly is well within his right.

Minor League Spotlight is the MLB FanHouse's look into baseball's minor leagues. But you probably figured that out already.

As reported by The Biz of Baseball over the weekend, former big-league slugger Cecil Fielder has signed on to manage the Charlotte County Redfish of the South Coast League, an independent minor league consisting of six teams. The Redfish are just 5-20 so far this season, and their previous manager, Jackie Hernandez, will move into the league office. Before taking this job, Fielder had been serving as a roving hitting instructor for the league, helping players on all six teams.

I grew up watching Big Cecil launch bombs into the upper decks of Tiger Stadium, so I'm probably a little more geeked about his announcement than most. (Despite the fact he finished his career bouncing around teams like the Yankees, Angels and Indians, I'll always remember him wearing the Olde English D.) He doesn't have any managing experience, but Hernandez hardly set the bar for success high with just five wins in 25 games.

What Fielder may lack in experience he probably makes up for in enthusiasm -- his smile has always been infectious, and I have to believe that the next generation of players could learn a lot under him. It certainly didn't do his son Prince any harm, even if reports are true that the father and on are currently estranged. Prince, by the way, smacked his NL-leading 25th home run of the year on Sunday night -- the first (and likely last) inside-the-park home run of his career.

As aptly described at Fark Sports, the Dodgers April 15th game against the Padres will be just like that old Bugs Bunny episode.

Playing first base for the Dodgers, # 42. Playing second base for the Dodgers, # 42. Pitching for the Dodgers, # 42.

Because as announced on the Dodgers official site, the team will be celebrating the 60th anniversary of Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier in baseball in a unique way.

the Dodgers decided to have their entire team wear uniform No. 42 on Jackie Robinson Day in tribute to the late Hall of Famer who broke baseball's color barrier while wearing Dodger Blue.

Check out Sons of Steve Garvey who obtained a sneak peak at the Dodgers scoreboard for that night. Additionally, Juan Pierre and Marlon Anderson will conduct a youth clinic at the MLB Urban Youth Academy in South Central Los Angeles the previous day. While there's no possible way for baseball to thank and honor Jackie Robinson enough for what he went through and endured in paving the way for many future black players, the Dodgers are certainly making their attempts.

Furthermore, Barry Bonds and Ken Griffey Jr. will also wear jersey No. 42 in honor of Robinson on April 15th. Griffey Jr. petitioned the league to wear the number, since it was retired throughout baseball in 1997 on the 50th anniversary. Padres OF Mike Cameron will also wear No. 42 in honor of Robinson when they play the Dodgers on the 15th, and he will even go completely old school.

If you don't love Prince Fielder, I think you might be un-American. I came to this realization while reading "Five Fun Facts about Prince Fielder" at the always great Brew Crew Ball. Let's add on to Brew Crew Ball's list.

His dad, Cecil, was the man. You probably know that but let's recap anyways. I remember my dad telling me a likely apocryphal story about Cecil hitting a home run into a dumpster in Detroit during his prime. I can find no evidence that the story was true. I don't care, it's just plain cool someone even bothered to make it up. One of the all-around most fun players of my childhood.

Prince probably wouldn't look out of place next to Eric "Badlands" Booker at the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest and yet he stole seven bases last year and was only caught twice. This baffles my mind.

As good as he was as a rookie in 2006, he did his best work within the division. He hit 17 of his 28 home runs against Central opponents in 2006. He's also won't turn 23 until May, which means that he'll probably get wider, stronger, and even more amusing in the near future.