A few years ago, I was your typical office-worker: stressed out, uneven energy, overweight, and inconsistent complexion. Now I'm just your typical 28-year old urban hunter-gatherer on a quest to be healthy, and having a few adventures along the way. See my full bio.
My hometown Detroit Tigers just signed Prince Fielder to a nine-year, $214 million contract. Short-term, I'm excited because this keeps the Tigers in championship contention. Long-term, I'm worried because this is an enormous contract to swallow -- fourth all-time, only smaller than A-Rod's two contracts and Albert Pujols' contract this year.
Oh yeah, and there's just one more long-term problem: Prince Fielder is a vegetarian. Here is Fielder's Wikipedia entry:
"Prior to the 2008 season Fielder became a vegetarian, removing meat and fish from his diet. Fielder made this choice after reading Skinny Bitch by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin, given to him by his wife Chanel."
Prince Fielder is no skinny bitch. He's got weight issues. Back in 2008, the NYT reported that he was 5'11'' and he tipped the scales at 270 pounds. Long-time readers may remember that the majority of the most highlighted passages in Skinny Bitch are ways to eat sugar or processed food. Apparently, he's taken the book to heart. All this means he's going to age faster. His production is going to drop sooner. And his recovery from injuries will be slower. I'll have to see what I can do to get him eating better.
A personal memory: I once struck out Prince Fielder in Little League. I think I was 10 years old.
When his father, Cecil, played for the Tigers, Prince played a year of local ball before either moving or joining a travel team. He could hit anything. It didn't matter whether it was in the strike zone or not. I wouldn't be surprised if his OBP was above .700. Another time I was playing catcher and we intentionally walked him. In Little League, there just aren't very many intentional walks -- it's considered pretty bad form. He was that good. Below is a local McDonald's ad that he appeared in long before his vegetarian days.
Anyhow, I wish him the best. Go Tigers!
Comments
those performance enhancing
those performance enhancing drugs change the game, vis a vis recovery & and testosterone levels.don't doubt that they're all (or very nearly all) juiced! not just baseball, either.
I wonder if his wife will
I wonder if his wife will appreciate his drop in testosterone as he continues to embrace veganism...
My fave baseball player
My fave baseball player (Jayson Werth of the Nationals. Or "Big Sexy" as we used to call him in Philly) may be on Paleo or something similiar:"He's a big health guy," Zimmerman reports. "He does something with the wheat or the gluten and all that."And what has Zimmerman picked up about the benefits of the world-famous wheat-or-gluten-and-all-that diet?"I've been over to the house for dinner a couple of times," he says. "And I'm all for just showing up and eating food. So I'm not complaining."http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/spring2011/columns/story?columnist=stark_jayson&id=6223166Outside of vegetarians (which he's not), people don't "do something" with wheat gluten. It's prob a safe bet to assume that what Zimmerman was referring to is him NOT eating wheat and/or gluten. My case is further strengthened by Zimmerman insinuating that the food tastes good, something impossible on vegetarian :-)
John,I'm from the Detroit
John,I'm from the Detroit area originally as well. If you were able to successfully get both Prince and Miguel Cabrera to go paleo/primal you would kill two birds with one stone: 1) help our Tigers by making both these powerhouse offensive players leaner, more agile, and therefore less of a defensive liability; and 2) garner significant national attention and free publicity for the paleo health movement, especially in potentially reaching new audiences in the hispanic and black communities. Might be a long shot, but it would be absolutely huge if you were successful. While you're at it, see if you can't get Verlander to quit the Taco Bell! The McDonald's clip is not only sad in terms of its obvious connection to his current weight issues, but also the strained relationship he has with his father, which makes it kind of surprising he ended up in Motown.