Prince Fielder Is One Durable Ballplayer
Detroit Tigers 1B Prince Fielder may never win a Mr. Universe competition, but the rotund lefty slugger does possess the remarkable talent of never ever missing a day at the office.
Fielder's Wednesday night start versus the Minnesota Twins marked his 218th consecutive game played.
In fact, the 5-11, 275 lbs. big man has taken the field in 545 of the last 546 Major League games played.
The only game Fielder missed during this noteworthy stretch took place back in September of 2008, when the then Milwaukee Brewer was sidelined for one game, after catching a bout of the flu from his kids.
The first-year Tiger now holds the MLB lead in consecutive games played after Los Angeles Dodgers all-world CF Matt Kemp was placed on the disabled list with a strained left hamstring. Kemp had appeared in an impressive 399 games in a row, prior to this setback.
Before the start of spring training, the Tigers inked Fielder to a nine-year/$214 million contract.
The son of former Big League big fly artist Cecil Fielder put together seven stellar seasons in Wisconsin, averaging 33 homeruns and 94 RBI per campaign.
Fielder is off to a bit of a slow start in his new league and new home ballpark, downtown Detroit's spacious Comerica Park.
Despite this occurrence, Tigers manager Jim Leyland can feel a high level of solace in knowing that his team's “big” free agent prize off the offseason can be penciled into the lineup every day, no questions asked and no matter what.
