Hunter comes to Fielder's defense

CHICAGO -- Tigers right fielder Torii Hunter made an important point Tuesday on the radio, one that shouldn't be lost in the speculation surrounding possible off-field personal issues Prince Fielder may be having.

Hunter was waiting to go on the air on the new Detroit Sports 105.1 when he heard the host criticizing Fielder's play.

Fielder, who's batting .261 with 17 home runs and 81 RBIs, is off his usual home run, on-base percentage and slugging pace compared to his previous several seasons.

His 81 RBIs are still good enough to be ranked eighth in the majors.

Fielder is a career .284 hitter, so his average is down. His career on-base percentage is .389 and he's currently at .352. His career slugging percentage is .528 but sits at .432 heading into Tuesday night's game.

Fielder's OPS (on-base plus slugging) is .784, down considerably from his career average of .916.

Fielder also is in the second year of a nine-year, $214 million contract, and has to live in the shadow of a once-in-a-lifetime hitter in Miguel Cabrera, who really can't be compared to other players.

When you make that kind of money and don't perform at the level that people expect, criticism follows.

Hunter did what teammates do -- he defended his friend.

"They were talking about Prince and I said, 'Man, you don't know what's going on in that man's life,'" Hunter said before Tuesday's game. "Anything can be going on, but that guy goes out there every day and he plays the game hard.

"But nobody knows what's really going on in his personal life. He, just like everybody else, got something going on, and he's fighting through it and he's getting it done. You guys don't need to know what it is unless he wants to tell you. That's all I said. It's the truth."

Through Monday, Fielder's consecutive games streak stood at 460.

Of course, when Hunter said what he said, people immediately started speculating what might be going on with Fielder off the field.

"They can guess all they want," Hunter said. "Until he tells you, he don't want to tell you."

Everyone should know by now that Fielder is a very private person, much more so than the voluble Hunter.

For example, Fielder has been asked many times about his strained relationship with his father, Cecil, but he chooses not to discuss it outside his family.

Whatever is going on with Fielder now, he's not going to say.

"I'm gonna turn the story off," Fielder said when asked before Tuesday's game. "It's fine. Everything's fine."

It's absolutely Fielder's prerogative to keep his private life private. It won't stop the speculation, but he's not going to feed that fire at all.

Maybe Hunter shouldn't have brought it up, but he did raise an important point.

"That's all I was saying; he's just like everybody else," Hunter said. "He's going through some things. I'm going through some things. A lot.

"Just because we make money, we're not human anymore? We all got family issues, trust me."

Hunter mentioned his father, who has battled drug abuse and recently got out of prison.

Just because Fielder and Hunter are financially set and play for a team that has a chance to make the playoffs doesn't mean they're immune to some of the problems in life we all face.

Like the rest of us, sometimes those problems affect our jobs. If we're concerned about a friend or family member, it might take away our focus from the task at hand from time to time.

Sometimes, though, being on the field and playing the game they've grown up loving is a respite from whatever problems they have.

"This is my safe haven," Hunter said. "This is his safe haven."

We all try to do the best that we can, even when it's a struggle.

That's what Fielder's doing right now. Really, that's all you can ask of him.