Baseball has a long history of fathers and sons who played the game at a high level, but rarely at its highest level.
The Fielders -- dad Cecil and son Prince -- are among that group. Prince was the special guest on the latest episode of The 6-1-1 Podcast with Jimmy Rollins and Ryan Howard, and he gave his opinion on why there seem to be so many sons who follow in their fathers’ MLB footsteps.
“I think it’s just the fact that when we were kids, we were just always around it,” Prince said. “... It’s like ‘This is my dad’s job.’ It’s cool, but it doesn’t seem so out of reach, I think, because we’re always around it.”
Fielder arrived in the big leagues with the Brewers in 2005. Throughout a 12-year career that featured six All-Star selections, three Silver Sluggers and two Home Run Derby titles, he also hit 319 home runs -- the same amount as his dad.
One of Prince’s most famous dingers came on Sept. 6, 2009, when he bashed a walk-off homer against the Giants. What followed was one of the most creative victory celebrations in recent memory, as the Brewers crowded around home plate and then all fell down as Fielder jumped on the dish. He explained how the idea for that started in Spring Training earlier that year.
“We were like, ‘Hey, this year, if we hit a home run [to win a game], we should all fall down on home plate, whoever hit it,'" Fielder said. "Sure enough, it didn’t come until September. That’s why I was pointing around the bases, to remind them. I mean, I added a little extra with the dismount. … That was fun.”
Fielder tackled numerous topics with Rollins and Howard during the 45-minute episode, including more from his Brewers career, his mindset when he competed in the Derby, what it’s like to have a son of his own in professional baseball now, and much more.
The 6-1-1 Podcast is available on MLB.com, MLB.TV, all podcast platforms and YouTube.