Cecil Fielder Is a Big Hit at Dan's GrillHampon

Yankees great Cecil Fielder provided VIP entertainment for New York baseball fans at Dan’s GrillHampton presented by Pat La Frieda Meat Purveyors on Friday, July 17. A power-hitter in the mid-’​80s and ’90s, New York baseball fanatics will best remember Fielder for his contributions to the 1996 World Championship Yankees team.

“I’ve never been out here before,” Fielder remarked of his Hamptons visit, as he signed balls, photos and posed with fans. “This is a long way from the city!”

Fielder was at GrillHampton, held at Sayre Park in Bridgehampton, for a meet-and-greet, and he later took the stage to judge the grilling competition, which pitted chefs from New York City against chefs from the Hamptons. “I love food. I like to cook. I like everything about it!” he said. “I’m a tough judge, because I’m a great BBQ guy myself.” The teams were warned, and Team Hamptons emerged victorious.

Fielder began his baseball career in 1985 with the Toronto Blue Jays, before spending 1990–1996 with the Detroit Tigers. It was there that he exploded onto the baseball scene, becoming a full-fledged power hitter. During the 1990 season, Fielder hit 51 home runs and 132 RBIs, finishing second in the MVP voting. He followed up his inaugural season in Detroit with 44 home runs the following year, again finishing second in MVP voting, and was named to the All-Star team in 1990, 1991 and 1993.

Fielder was traded to the Yankees during the 1996 season, and he became an integral part of the World Series run that year.

“The ’96 World Series was probably the best,” remarks Fielder, who played first base and was a designated hitter throughout his career, on his greatest accomplishment. “You do a lot of things individually, but to win the World Series as a team, that was probably the best,” he reaffirms. Fielder stayed with the Yankees for one more season, before heading to the Anaheim Angels and then the Cleveland Indians. He retired prior to the start of the 1999 season.

Though Fielder has since arrived back in New York City, the fun continues tonight with Dan’s Taste of Two Forks presented by Farrell Building Company. Stay tuned for more tastes and celebrity sighting under the tent in Bridgehampton!