Prince Fielder on a Roll

by Jason Vernon
2006-04-25

Fielder on a Roll
Prince Fielder continued the impressive start to his first full season of major league baseball with a three for three night against the Atlanta Braves. Fielder is currently hitting .373 with a slugging average over .500. The 260 pound twenty-one year old even stole his second base of the year last night. He's now two for two in the stolen base department and has as many stolen bases as father Cecil had in 1,470 career games. Father Fielder's two career steals occurred during his eleventh season in the majors when he split time between the Tigers and Yankees during the 1996 campaign. Both steals occurred while a member of the Tigers.

Perez Victimized by Cards
The Cardinals took the first game of their series against the Pirates. The offense took a big bite out of increasingly perplexing Pirate starter Oliver Perez. For a pitcher who was so utterly dominating in 2004 it's hard to explain the pitching slump that Perez has been in since the beginning of the 2005 season. This year his problem has been six homeruns and eighteen walks in twenty-five innings worked. His nasty slider is sliding flat instead of sharply breaking.

Western Stalemate Continues
The grudge match that is the American League West divisional race continued Monday night as the Oakland A's brought the Texas Rangers and their four game win streak to an end with a 3-2 victory in Arlington. The loss brought the Rangers back to .500 with a 10-10 record and the A's moved to 9-11. The Angels and Mariners were both able to grab wins from central division opponents but the overall division record of 38-43 (.469) is still very mediocre and currently the 2nd worst in all of baseball behind the National League Eastern division. At least in the NL East you have a team that looks for real in the New York Mets. No such team exists in the AL West.