Lou’s 3 Favorite Prince Fielder Memories

    Well, it is officially over.  As of this morning, the 5 day window to negotiate a new contract with Prince Fielder has closed.  Thus bringing to an end, the relationship between Prince and the Brewers.  While this is a sad time, we must try and remember the good times.  Believe me, there are a lot of things to divert our sadness. 

Today I am going to look at my 3 personal favorite Prince Fielder Moments.  Now some of you will probably disagree, but that is why it is not called “The 3 Greatest Prince Fielder Memories”.  These are the three moments that I will always remember about Prince.

3) Prince after Brewers won the NLDS 

This was a beautiful moment.  So rarely do we get to see athlete’s as people anymore, but on that day Prince was as happy as a man can possibly be.  His children were spraying him with water bottles, he was explaining to the commentators who ‘Sully’ from Monster’s Inc. was.  It was like looking in a mirror almost.  How would any of us acted in that same situation?  Watching Prince celebrate on top of the dugout, spraying fans with champagne, was one of the most enjoyable moments of my life.  It is a lasting image in my brain, that no one can take away from me.  Celebrating with your family and friends is what it is all about.  Wherever he ends up, I hope he never forgets that day.

2)  September 6th of 2009

In the bottom of the 12th inning, Prince stepped to the plate.  He swung with all his might at the first pitch, but made no contact.  The second swing had the same force, but with contact and the ball left Miller Park in heck of a hurry.  Now the walk-off bomb was exciting enough, but the celebration at the plate is what makes this moment so memorable.  As Prince approached home plate, he jumped in the air, as he came down on top of home plate, his teammates all fell to the ground.  Like a bowling ball crashing into pins.  The celebration really pissed of people in the Giants organization, in fact it was still a topic of discussion during the 2011 season.  While the home run itself was nice, the celebration made you realize that Prince just wanted to have fun.  Baseball is a game, and in the age of the Red Sox, Yankees and Phillies it is easy to forget that.  Prince never let Brewers fans forget that it was a game and it should always be fun.

1)  Prince’s First Home Run

     This was not just any game.  Many of you may not remember this, but Rickie Weeks also hit his first career home run that day.  June 25th, 2005 was the date and the Twins were in Milwaukee.  Prince hit a 3-run homer to give the Brewers a 7-5 lead.  The bomb was off of Jesse Crain and Daron Sutton made one of the most memorable calls in Brewers history:

"Career home run number one for the man who is Prince, but will soon be king."

It was almost like everything that the 2011 season gave us, was born on that day in June.  Granted, we had not seen Ryan Braun just yet, but Weeks and Fielder both showed us that good things were coming to Milwaukee.  For the first time in…my life, the Brewers had hope for the future.  It all started on that one magical day against the Twins.  I was able to find a video of both Rickie and Prince’s home runs that day, follow this link.  Watch it and try not to smile.  I warn you, it will be tough.  Thank you to Brew Crew Ball for having that video on file. 

Losing Prince is not the end of the world, but I imagine it is how a parent feels when there kids head off to college.  You have watched them grow, nurtured them as best you could, and now the rest is up to them.  I hope that Prince makes the right decision.  Money is great, I know I would try to get paid too, but sometimes there are more important things than money.

Should he decide to shock the world and return to Milwaukee, he will be more than a man.  Prince Fielder would be a living legend.  Braun and Fielder would transcend the days of Yount and Molitor.  Who knows, they could blow away Maris and Mantle, or McGuire and Canseco.

I will miss you Prince, you are a good man.  Hopefully we will see you soon.  But so help me, if you walk into Miller Park in a Cubs uniform…you will single-handedly save Brett Favre’s legacy in Wisconsin, by taking his spot atop “The Traitor Throne”.