Detroit Tigers’ Prince Fielder Has Been Overlooked

Prince Fielder might be the biggest player on the field but he is far from the biggest personality. In his first season for the Detroit Tigers after publicity filled his offseason the huge slugger from Ontario, California just went about his business and for the most part stayed out of the spotlight, just how he likes it.

“It’s always good to be on a team when you have superstars who are cool guys. They know how to play the game,” Fielder said. “Everyone here is a star, so it’s not a big deal. I love that. The more attention off me, the better.” He likes to stay out of the spotlight and he’s in the perfect place to do that. The Tigers have one of the best lineups in Major League Baseball where it would be really easy to overlook a star player that’s performing well and that’s something Fielder doesn’t mind. He seems to think he plays better with the attention off him.

Players such as Justin Verlander and Miguel Cabrera make it easy to forget about a guy going out and just doing his thing. Fielder hit .313 with 30 home runs and 108 RBI’s last year and wasn’t spoken of very often. Considering last year was his best year consistently hitting the ball this was odd. Before 2012 he never hit over .300 although in 2011 he hit .299 so this was a spectacular year hitting for average for a player known as a power hitter. Although it might not show statistically 2012 might have been one of his best years in the majors.

People overlooked Fielder last year for a number of reasons, two of them being players on his own team and another was Mike Trout, the rookie sensation from the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. He was one of the few players that stayed consistent the whole year for the Tigers where he avoided huge slumps and huge streaks. This is something he likes to focus on, being the most consistent player.

Look for Fielder to have another amazing year in 2013 where he hits for power and average. He might not be the powerful personality that most superstars are these days but do not mistake it as a weakness. It very well could be his biggest strength. In the words of Tigers’ color commentator Rod Allen, “We see you big fella”.