Cecil Fielder: “They’re TRYING to hit home runs. The game has changed. It ain’t moving nobody over, it ain’t bunting nobody over, it’s three-run homer or nothing. I can’t even enjoy watching it. These guys can't even put the ball in play, it's either bomb or strike out.”
Listen to former Major League Baseball slugger Cecil Fielder join The Odd Couple to voice his displeasure in an evolving game of baseball that has overwhelmingly handcuffed itself to the home run ball.
1.37 home runs are leaving the park per game in 2019, way up from the 2017 single season record of 1.26 HR/G. The league as a whole on pace to hit over 550 home runs more than the record shattering 2017 season.
Fielder, who hit 319 home runs during his career, including leading the league in home runs in 1990 (50) and 1991 (44), says the long ball has become so profound around the sport that it has begun to damage the grassroots fundamentals of hitting, and that players have no fear of strikeouts or their batting average dipping well below .300 if they can simply keep their home run total up.
Check out the audio below as Fielder explains to Chris Broussard and Matt Barnes (filling in for Rob Parker) that baseball isn’t enjoyable to watch anymore, and says fans will either see a home run, walk, or strikeout during the a three hour game and not much else in between.
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