What an incredibly sad story this is. It's about former Major League first baseman Cecil Fielder, father of hot prospect Prince Fielder, and how an addiction to gambling has ruined his life and his family's life. It's so bad, a process server gave papers to Prince Fielder as he was walking off the diamond after a game in Beloit, WI, because Cecil was impossible to find but was reported to be living with his son.
Something to think about:
On a February day in 1999, Cecil Fielder walked into the Trump Plaza casino in Atlantic City just before noon, and filled out an application for credit.
Under “Income/Assets,” he included: “Salary — $5 million.”
Under “Other Casinos,” he listed a $100,000 line of credit at the Desert Inn in Las Vegas.
Trump extended Fielder a $25,000 line of credit. That money, plus whatever cash he had started with, lasted a day and a half.
Fielder requested, and was given, another $25,000 line of credit.
That was gone in two hours and 40 minutes.
The casino lent him $27,500 more.
That lasted less than 20 minutes.
The casino extended Fielder’s credit by another $50,000.
The minute-by-minute records stop there, but the file contains a total. By the time the binge was over, Fielder owed the Trump casino $580,000.
Trump officials, including Ford Palmer, vice president of casino operations, and Fred Cunningham, vice president for legal affairs, said they could not discuss the case — or a casino’s obligation, if any, when a patron may be out of control.
What is a casino's obligation here? We hold bartenders responsible for continuing to serve people who are clearly drunk, something which I believe is on balance correct given the capability of a drunk person to get behind the wheel of a car and kill or maim innocent bystanders. Gamblers do not just hurt themselves - no one in the Fielder family is unaffected by Cecil's problem - but it's not usually a matter of life and death. It's clearly the ethical thing for a casino to limit the credit of an out-of-control gambler (and given the Trump's inability to collect on Cecil Fielder's debts, it's probably the prudent thing as well), but I'm not comfortable with a law to force them to do that. What do you think?
Detroit just loved Cecil Fielder, the burly T Decade of the Home Run in the earl
And Detroiters loved Fielder the family man, who doted on his son, Prince, and daughter, Ceclynn. They applauded when wife Stacey was named Mrs. Michigan, posing for pictures in her elegant Grosse Pointe Farms home. (Related item: Cecil Fielder's career highlights)
Their storybook life seemed headed for the happiest of endings — Fielder was traded to the Yankees, eventually retired with career earnings of $47 million in salary alone, and moved his family to the largest, richest mansion in central Florida.
Now, it's all gone.
All the money, the mansion — even the loving family unit.
Fielder is in hiding, with process servers stalking him. He is not in contact with his family, and many attempts by The Detroit News to reach him failed.
Why?
"Gambling caused Cecil Fielder's empire to collapse," said Al Arostegui, the Realtor who sold the Fielders their 50-room palace in Melbourne, Fla., in 1995 for $3.7 million.
"This isn't a story of a hero who went bad, but a hero who got sick. For Cecil, gambling is a disease; it's like a cancer of some sort that ate away his wealth."
Arostegui said the Fielders owe him more than $70,000 in unpaid advertising expenses from his attempts to sell their house for them. Still, he says, "The biggest losers are the Fielders themselves. They had a great dream home, a wonderful life, and now it's all gone."
Stacey Fielder said she still loves her husband, the only man in her life since her early teens, even though the two are mired in a bitter divorce dispute.
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<!--start data for usatc app<head-short>Fielder story turns sad
</head-short><last-modified>10/19/2004 2:28 AM
</last-modified><author>By Fred Girard, The Detroit News
</author><images><image src="/sports/baseball/_photos/2004-10-18-fielder-ins.jpg" width="180" height="200"><caption>During the early 1990s, Cecil Fielder was a premier home run threat for the Detroit Tigers. His life turned sour as gambling problems mounted.</caption><credit>By Duane Burleson, AP</credit></image></images>--><!-- /EdSysObj --><!--endclickprintinclude--><TABLE id=cnt_page cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=770 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD width=120></TD><TD width=15></TD><TD vAlign=top width=635><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=500 border=0><TBODY><TR align=middle><TD vAlign=top align=middle width=500><SCRIPT language=JavaScript>OAS_AD("FloatBottom");</SCRIPT></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
Something to think about:
On a February day in 1999, Cecil Fielder walked into the Trump Plaza casino in Atlantic City just before noon, and filled out an application for credit.
Under “Income/Assets,” he included: “Salary — $5 million.”
Under “Other Casinos,” he listed a $100,000 line of credit at the Desert Inn in Las Vegas.
Trump extended Fielder a $25,000 line of credit. That money, plus whatever cash he had started with, lasted a day and a half.
Fielder requested, and was given, another $25,000 line of credit.
That was gone in two hours and 40 minutes.
The casino lent him $27,500 more.
That lasted less than 20 minutes.
The casino extended Fielder’s credit by another $50,000.
The minute-by-minute records stop there, but the file contains a total. By the time the binge was over, Fielder owed the Trump casino $580,000.
Trump officials, including Ford Palmer, vice president of casino operations, and Fred Cunningham, vice president for legal affairs, said they could not discuss the case — or a casino’s obligation, if any, when a patron may be out of control.
Detroit just loved Cecil Fielder, the burly T Decade of the Home Run in the earl
And Detroiters loved Fielder the family man, who doted on his son, Prince, and daughter, Ceclynn. They applauded when wife Stacey was named Mrs. Michigan, posing for pictures in her elegant Grosse Pointe Farms home. (Related item: Cecil Fielder's career highlights)
Their storybook life seemed headed for the happiest of endings — Fielder was traded to the Yankees, eventually retired with career earnings of $47 million in salary alone, and moved his family to the largest, richest mansion in central Florida.
Now, it's all gone.
All the money, the mansion — even the loving family unit.
Fielder is in hiding, with process servers stalking him. He is not in contact with his family, and many attempts by The Detroit News to reach him failed.
Why?
"Gambling caused Cecil Fielder's empire to collapse," said Al Arostegui, the Realtor who sold the Fielders their 50-room palace in Melbourne, Fla., in 1995 for $3.7 million.
"This isn't a story of a hero who went bad, but a hero who got sick. For Cecil, gambling is a disease; it's like a cancer of some sort that ate away his wealth."
Arostegui said the Fielders owe him more than $70,000 in unpaid advertising expenses from his attempts to sell their house for them. Still, he says, "The biggest losers are the Fielders themselves. They had a great dream home, a wonderful life, and now it's all gone."
Stacey Fielder said she still loves her husband, the only man in her life since her early teens, even though the two are mired in a bitter divorce dispute.
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 align=left><TBODY><TR><TD><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=190 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=notch_header width=1 rowSpan=3>
<!--start data for usatc app<head-short>Fielder story turns sad
</head-short><last-modified>10/19/2004 2:28 AM
</last-modified><author>By Fred Girard, The Detroit News
</author><images><image src="/sports/baseball/_photos/2004-10-18-fielder-ins.jpg" width="180" height="200"><caption>During the early 1990s, Cecil Fielder was a premier home run threat for the Detroit Tigers. His life turned sour as gambling problems mounted.</caption><credit>By Duane Burleson, AP</credit></image></images>--><!-- /EdSysObj --><!--endclickprintinclude--><TABLE id=cnt_page cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=770 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD width=120></TD><TD width=15></TD><TD vAlign=top width=635><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=500 border=0><TBODY><TR align=middle><TD vAlign=top align=middle width=500><SCRIPT language=JavaScript>OAS_AD("FloatBottom");</SCRIPT></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>