He may have been on the Brewers team that was knocked out of the playoffs by the World Series winning St. Louis Cardinals, but he may have been one of the most valuable players to game 6 and 7. The St. Louis Cardinals returned home for games 6 and 7 of the World Series and won both games on their way to winning their eleventh World Series in franchise history. These games may have been a bit more difficult if they had been playing in Texas.

The Texas Rangers had a better regular season record by six games over that of the St. Louis Cardinals and before the 2003 season that would have meant that the Rangers would hold home-field advantage in the series. However, in 2002 when both the National League and American League ran out of available pitchers for the All-Star game and it was deemed a tie after 11 innings that all changed. Major League Baseball and the Player’s Union decided to add more incentive to the All-Star game by ruling that whichever league won the All-Star game would also be winning home-field advantage for the World Series.

Due to the fact that the National League won the 2011 All-Star game they won home-field advantage that would be given to St. Louis when they beat Milwaukee in the National League Championship Series (NLCS). That brings us back to the beginning of our story. Home-field advantage gives the St. Louis Cardinals the advantage and possibly is the reason for their wins in games 6 and 7.

Now why does Prince Fielder deserve a World Series ring?

Well, during the fourth inning of the 2011 All-Star game Prince Fielder stepped to the plate with Carlos Beltran and Matt Kemp aboard. The pitcher none other than Texas Rangers ace C.J. Wilson. Fielder belted a three run home run that proved to be all the offense the National League would need. They went on to win the game 5-1 and Fielder was awarded the games MVP trophy.

Had C.J. Wilson been able to get out of the inning the game may have gone differently. Fielder may not play for the St. Louis Cardinals and he could have knocked them out of the playoffs in the NLCS, but instead he proved invaluable to the Cardinals come-back in the World Series.

Without home-field advantage St. Louis may not have won the World Series. Had game 6 and 7 been in Texas then the Rangers may be celebrating their first World Series title in their franchise history. Instead Fielder’s home run gave the Cardinals a chance to play game 6 and 7 at home and subsequently became one of the reasons why the Cardinals won the 2011 World Series.