Friday, May 23, 2014

Airbrushed Fridays: 2014 Topps Opening Day #132


What a pain in the neck. Literally.

Who is he? Prince Fielder is the son of former All-Star and prolific home run hitting first baseman Cecil Fielder. Like his father, Prince is also an All-Star first baseman and prolific home run hitter. Cecil couldn't find his big break with the team that raised him, Toronto, and joined up with the Tigers (after a season in Japan) to become a breakout star. Prince was a Brewer through and through until he left for a big payday by that same Tigers franchise.


How did he get here? The story takes a turn when Prince didn't quite put up the same kind of numbers he did in Milwaukee through his first two seasons in Detroit. The Tigers needed to make some changes to their offense if they wanted to continue to be successful and traded him for Ian Kinsler. It's rare that two well known players are swapped for each other without prospects being involved in the current game, but that's exactly what happened. The Rangers seem to have been snakebitten lately and the Fielder trade is another example of this. There was significant chatter yesterday that a neck injury may sideline Fielder for the rest of the season. Already at age 30, Fielder's career looks a bit more uncertain. Then again, he plays Major League Baseball and probably sleeps on a bed of money.

Repeat offender? No

Other versions of this card: 2014 Topps #550 (short printed variation card)

Airbrushed Score: 6

Comments: Okay, this is somewhat unrelated but strange. Prince's 2014 Topps Heritage card looks like this while the parallel versions look like this. I guess we know which cards are manufactured first!

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