When the Detroit Tigers signed Prince Fielder to a hefty $214 million contract Tuesday and added him to a lineup that already featured Miguel Cabrera, they also drew attention to the girth of those two players.
Multiple sources list Fielder at 275 pounds, and we'll take them at their word. Cabrera, who at 6-foot-4 stands about five inches taller than Fielder, estimated in spring training that he weighed 270. Math tells us that's 545 pounds between the two Tigers who will comprise manager Jim Leyland's infield corners (on occasion) in 2012.
That's heavy stuff.
Not counting the pitcher and catcher, all of the Tigers infielders on the field for the last out of the 1984 World Series collectively weigh only 130 pounds more than Fielder and Cabrera combined. Let's look at the numbers, as obtained at Baseball-Reference:
1B — Dave Bergman: 185.
2B — Lou Whitaker: 160.
SS — Alan Trammell: 165.
3B — Tom Brookens: 165.
Total: ........... 675 pounds.
Richard Griffin of the Toronto Star pointed this out first, sort of, on Twitter.
But what does it mean? Not a lot, as Cabrera and Fielder probably won't play defense at the same time too often. And they've already proven that overweight guys can be among the most productive sluggers in the game. All Tigers owner Mike Ilitch wants to do is win a World Series, at any cost, and the Tigers are closer than they were without Fielder — no matter how much he weighs.
It also is worth remembering how good Trammell and Whitaker were despite their small stature. Current Tigers shortstop Jhonny Peralta probably has 50 pounds on Tram, and Sweet Lou defined wiry power.
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