The Analyst

A Tiger's Tale
In the week before the midseason break, Detroit's Cecil Fielder notched his 2,000th major league at bat. As the chart below shows, only five players have ever gotten off to better slugging starts. All the more reason that Fielder should have been picked to appear in last week's All-Star Game, you say? Agreed. Unjust though it may have been, however, Fielder's omission wasn't the greatest injustice in All-Star Game history. It wasn't even a record for a Detroit first baseman. In 1935 Hank Greenberg of the Tigers had 25 homers and 103 RBIs at the All-Star break on July 7. Greenberg still was bypassed for the All-Star Game in favor of first basemen Lou Gehrig and Jimmie Foxx.

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PHOTO

ANTHONY NESTE

CHART

JOHN GRIMWADE