Cecil Fielder: 'I Love My Son'
Cecil Fielder gave an unusually frank interview to 97.1 The Ticket's Bob Wojnowski and Jamie Samuelsen at Saturday's SportsFest event in Novi where he said -- once and for all -- he wants to settle the feud with his superstar son Prince Fielder.
"I had some great times in that stadium," Fielder said about the old Tiger Stadium. "My son had some great times there... I have a special place in my heart for Tiger Stadium."
Discussing his son, who recently signed a $214 million contract with the Detroit Tigers, seemed to open the floodgates for Fielder, who usually shies away from discussing their relationship. The two have a well-known rift.
"I gave that boy everything I had, as far as the game of baseball," Fielder told Wojo and Samuelsen.
Wojo asked if the ice could melt between Fielder and his son.
"He's my son, I love my son," Fielder said. "There's some disconnect there...I'm going to extend the olive branch to him...We need to put it away."
Fielder said he last spoke to his son at Christmas; previously, the two hadn't spoken in two years, he said. He said he called because he needed his son "and his Mama to act like they had some sense."
But the rift is apparently still there.
"We're going to have to talk and move on," Fielder added.
Fielder also discussed his 51-home run season with the Tigers, and what was going on at the time.
"I was just ready for the season to be over," Fielder said. "It was a long grind."
So, what does he most remember about the moment he hit the final smash over the wall?
"(Opponent) Don Mattingly said 'Just go out there and do it...' That helped me get through it,'" Fielder revealed.
