Fielder: Needs reality check

[byco42]

Prince on the WS: "We played good baseball, but they just beat us."

The first step to solving a problem is admitting you have one in the first place. This statement concerns me.

 

[Mitchrapp]

Doesn't concern me. Saying they sucked is putting the blame on everyone.

 

[gotime909]

Some of you guys read WAY too much into quotes. Like with the Delmon quote last week, probably not a big deal. Sometimes things are said that look different printed than how they actually sounded.

 

[byco42]

I'm open to all the examples of "good baseball" the Tigers played in the 2012 World Series. Let's begin with their offense.

The pitchers stood out, to be sure, save for Game 1. They played "good."

Other than that, I'm a little non-plussed how a team that played "good baseball" can get swept from the field in four games and score six meager runs.

Jackson tip-toeing up to three balls hit in front of him is not "good baseball."
Delmon Young standing at the plate waiting to be tagged out is not "good baseball."
Gerald Laird bunting at a ball in his eyes is not "good baseball."
Gene Lamont waiving Fielder home and Peralta asleep at the switch not directing his slide is not "good baseball."
Quentin Berry pretending he's Reggie Jackson is not "good baseball."

Never mind that even were Fielder correct in his assessment of his team's performance, "good baseball" is not sufficient to win a World Series.

 

[Thumb]

Some of you guys read WAY too much into quotes. Like with the Delmon quote last week, probably not a big deal. Sometimes things are said that look different printed than how they actually sounded.

I don't know that there are many ways to interpret Delmon saying the offense was fine but they were out of the game by the 4th inning other than him saying it was all Verlanders fault.

That is in plain English him tossing JV under the bus.

Now you can stick up for him and try to deflate all you want, but not one time did Verlander or any other pitcher say to the media that they lost a game because Delmon hit into a DP, or dropped a flay ball, or struck out 3 times on balls in the dirt.

Not a big deal to you, because Delmon is your hero, but I'm pretty sure the rest of us, plus half the Tiger blogs, were objective enough to see what he said was wrong.

As far as Prince, he should have nothing to say period after earning $23MM this season, after going 1 for 14 to hit a whopping .071, with a .205 OPS. in the World Series.

 

[byco42]

As far as Prince, he should have nothing to say period after earning $23MM this season, after going 1 for 14 to hit a whopping .071, with a .205 OPS. in the World Series.

But Prince, by virtue of the syllogism, played "good baseball."

 

[Mitchrapp]

So lets cut him. Would you feel better if he just said "we sucked".

 

[hungry]

So lets cut him. Would you feel better if he just said "we sucked".

yep

even better would be "I sucked"

 

[byco42]

So lets cut him. Would you feel better if he just said "we sucked".

I'd appreciate that he'd acknowledge what was plainly evident to the rest of the educated baseball universe. The Tigers did not play well. Prince needs to change his plate approach in more ways than one in the off season...

 

[kalinecountry]

I'd appreciate that he'd acknowledge what was plainly evident to the rest of the educated baseball universe. The Tigers did not play well. Prince needs to change his plate approach in more ways than one in the off season...

That is so cool, lol,
and it would help him to go on salads instead of the See food diet.

 

[manchild98]

Offensively they struggled in the world series but pitching and defense were damn good for these playoffs. No matter what he says he's going to get criticized for if you are looking for it. Some fans want to be mad that we lost and the players didn't go into the locker room and destroy it. Prince is a happy, nonchalant personality and that's not going to change. You are who you are. None of what he or anyone else says or does changes any of it...the still lost and it will have no bearing on next year.

 

[Mitchrapp]

"I sucked and most of the team sucked" -- Prince

"Thanks I feel much much better" -- Me.

 

[byco42]

"I sucked and most of the team sucked" -- Prince

"Thanks I feel much much better" -- Me.

That's okay. Prince can shrug and smile. The interviews of several other Tigers' players are more representative of the actual circumstances. They appear to get it. I'm not convinced Prince does, based on his comments.

"We didn't play very well...and it showed." Alex Avila

'We didn't play our best baseball in the World Series." Max Scherzer

"We got outplayed." Justin Verlander

 

[tigermud]

Well what we have here folks is a simple case of trying to hard. easy to forget sometimes these guys are still rather young like, no not delmon damit, age wise! prince over swung and expanded the strike zone, I don't think I've ever seen him say much off anything in interviews.. he comes of as very camera shy and ho hum but I get the feeling he's not like that at all off camera, I'll bet he knows he sucked and will hopefully learn from it. And if he doesn't know he sucked, well then that's not helpful for that whole learning from it thought then is it.

 

[Mitchrapp]

I get it. But it doesn't make me feel anything. We all know they didn't play well. They know they didn't play well. But now that its over, you move on. Us and them. Does no good to sweat for weeks.

 

[hungry]

Well what we have here folks is a simple case of trying to hard. easy to forget sometimes these guys are still rather young like, no not delmon damit, age wise! prince over swung and expanded the strike zone, I don't think I've ever seen him say much off anything in interviews.. he comes of as very camera shy and ho hum but I get the feeling he's not like that at all off camera, I'll bet he knows he sucked and will hopefully learn from it. And if he doesn't know he sucked, well then that's not helpful for that whole learning from it thought then is it.

That's just it. If he really thinks that he played good, then where is the motivation for him to improve? Does he have any? Or does he think he is great? Its obvious that something is wrong with his motivation. What pro athlete lets himself look like that? 295 pounds of flab? He isn't an offensive lineman. Its embarassing or it should be.

Now if he realizes that he played like shit and has room for improvement, then maybe he will work his tail off and get better.

Looking at him and hearing his interview, which do you guys think is true?

 

[mjsb2]

That's just it. If he really thinks that he played good, then where is the motivation for him to improve? Does he have any? Or does he think he is great? Its obvious that something is wrong with his motivation. What pro athlete lets himself look like that? 295 pounds of flab? He isn't an offensive lineman. Its embarassing or it should be.

Now if he realizes that he played like shit and has room for improvement, then maybe he will work his tail off and get better.

Looking at him and hearing his interview, which do you guys think is true?

A pro that gives a fuck about appearance, rather than performance, is not in any way a good thing.

Fielder has been a top 5 hitter over the past three years.

That's all you need to know about his motivation.

It's not possible to be that good without extraordinaire motivation and work ethic.

 

[Mitchrapp]

Way overblown. Prince is a great hitter, has always been a great hitter. So he didn't show the rest of the world with his words that he sucked. I haven't heard Leyland say it or a bunch of other guys, so why get on Prince?

Non story.

 

[kingofdetroit57]

I'm far from a Prince Fielder apologist, and Prince has the tendency to bother me with his lax attitude and quotes, but the guy does play hard if you watch him. He just strikes me as a different sort of player that can drive fans nuts when things aren't going right.

Also, I think his offensive numbers in the playoffs are a bit misleading. Sure, he definitely could have been better, especially for how profile he is and how well he's paid, but he got robbed on a few occassions (Crisp stealing that HR, the Giants LF diving catch, etc.) with great plays. I thought he was pretty solid defensively during the playoffs too.

I hate to sound cliche, but I do think we were a few lucky bounces away from making the series competitive. The Giants got those bounces, those timely hits, those great defensive plays, and we just didn't. Gotta tip your hat to them on putting themselves in good position to win and executing.

 

[kingofdetroit57]

That's just it. If he really thinks that he played good, then where is the motivation for him to improve? Does he have any? Or does he think he is great? Its obvious that something is wrong with his motivation. What pro athlete lets himself look like that? 295 pounds of flab? He isn't an offensive lineman. Its embarassing or it should be.

Now if he realizes that he played like shit and has room for improvement, then maybe he will work his tail off and get better.

Looking at him and hearing his interview, which do you guys think is true?

Babe Ruth and Miguel Cabrera were hardly the model of physical fitness, yet they are two of the greatest hitters to ever play the game.

Who would you rather have as your QB, Tim Tebow or Joe Namath?

At some point you gotta quit looking at the guy playing the game and start looking at the stats they put up. Fielder and Cabrera are two of those types of players.