A happy return for Fielder

full season in the majors and the homer celebration, only Jeff Francoeur and Adrian Gonzalez played more games than Fielder.

“After the homer, I started to get bitter,” Fielder said. “I didn’t see how if I played hard and played right, how celebrating — after the game was over — giving my team a win was insulting the integrity of the game. It didn’t make sense to me. It still doesn’t.”

That, however, was only the start of a long, dark road for Fielder. Within two years, he would become a free agent, having at that point played more games than anybody else in the majors over the previous six seasons. He was one of five players with five consecutive 30-homer seasons.

The landing spot was Detroit, where his father, Cecil, had mashed home runs in the 1980s and ’90s. It’s burden enough living up to your father’s legacy, but at the time, Fielder and his father weren’t speaking. There were reported accusations that Cecil Fielder had mishandled and misappropriated a portion of the son’s $2.4 million signing bonus after he was drafted in 2002.

A perceived drop in power followed. He fell from 38 homers in his last year in Milwaukee to 30 in 2012 in Detroit. In 2013, as he started to notice occasional tightness in his neck and shoulder, Fielder’s power dropped more, to 25 homers.

As the game became less fun and more of a burden, Fielder occasionally snapped at teammates. It boiled over to his life at home with his wife, Chanel, whom he has known since high school.

Of the change in Fielder over time, Chanel reflects: “Prince Fielder and Prince can’t be in the house at the same time. Prince Fielder stays at the field. You can’t bring that guy home.”

When the end of the season finally came in the AL championship series, Fielder addressed the media with his sons, Jadyn and Haven, flanking him.

“It’s not really tough, man. It’s over,” Fielder said. “I got kids I’ve got to take care of. I’ve got things I got to take

PHOTOS BY ANDY JACOBSOHN / DALLAS MORNING NEWS Rangers first baseman Prince Fielder plays basketball with sons Jadyn, 10, (left) and Haven, 8, at their home in Windermere, Fla. Fielder bonded with his children last summer after neck surgery ended his season.

Prince Fielder practices Pilates with his wife, Chanel, who says the injury “was probably the greatest thing that could have happened to recharge the batteries.”