I am going to tell you up front that I will probably forget somebody important here, but it's Father's day, and I'm supposed to be relaxing here.

Today, I'm going to take a quick look at three young players who are trying to fill big shoes by playing the game their fathers dominated. After the jump it's Prince Fielder, Tony Gwynn, Jr. and Tony Pena, Jr.

No pressure, kid. It's just your old man, after all.

We'll start off with Prince Fielder, who is doing an admirable job of filling his dad's shoes and emulating his waistband. Courtesy of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel:

Prince Fielder leads the National League in home runs thus far in 2007. His father, Cecil Fielder, led the American League in home runs twice in his career - 1990 and 1991.

If Prince Fielder ends up leading the league this season, it will mark just the fifth time in baseball history in which a father and son led a league in the same category, although it would be just the fourth father-son combination.

It should be noted that home runs is not the only thing Cecil Fielder led the league in during his career. Prince Fielder also could join the list by leading the league in slugging percentage, total bases, RBI or strikeouts.

The other father-son leaders:

Innings pitched: Jim Bagby (1920) and Jim Bagby Jr. (1943)

Games played: Gus Bell (1955) and Buddy Bell (1979)

Runs scored: Bobby Bonds (1969 and 1973) and Barry Bonds (1992)

Total bases: Bobby Bonds (1973) and Barry Bonds (1993)

So Cecil's kid is taking care of business. But what of the other Hall of Famer offspring who calls Milwaukee home? Tony Gwynn, Jr. is stuck in a crowded situation:

Tony Gwynn Jr., with a single in five at-bats at the top of the order against the Marlins, also deserves a chance. In fact, he deserves a chance to play more often, which goes to the root of the Brewers' ongoing logjam in the outfield.

Since they've already committed to Ryan Braun at third base, it probably wouldn't hurt them to commit to some form of a Hart-Gwynn-Bill Hall combination as the foundation of their outfield. The entire lineup could grow up together, with the only real concern being some kind of revival from St. Louis in the National League Central. No one else, including those battlin' Chicago Cubs, seems particularly interested in catching the Brewers at the moment.

Sadly, it looks like as long as things are working the way they are, TGJr. won't get many at-bats.

For some reason, the Kansas City Star has nothing about Tony Pena, Jr. and his famous father. Perhaps it's sour grapes over the whole Tony Pena, Sr. stint as manager in KC, in which he gave them their best season in recent memory before getting himself entangled in some extramarital difficulties that helped run him out of town.

MLB.com is not really worried about that, though. They put together a nice puff piece about Tony, Sr. and his bond with his two baseball-playing sons, Tony, Jr. (Royals starting SS) and Francisco (Mets farm-system catcher):

"They grew up in the clubhouse, they grew up around players and they grew up around big-league fields," Pena Sr. said. "I think because they saw it so much, it became part of their lives, and they said they can do it because it's the only thing they knew."

Pena Jr. received advice not only from his dad, but from some of the greatest shortstops the game has ever seen. There was acrobatic Ozzie Smith in St. Louis and the graceful Omar Vizquel with the Indians: Pena Jr. watched Vizquel every day, fielding grounders, throwing to first and turning the double play.

"I wanted to do that," Pena Jr. said.

And he has.

Finally, since I was at the KC Star site and all, I have to share Joe Posnanski's soft-focus father's day piece.

Dad’s memory for names is not quite so sharp. I would estimate that about 60 percent of the time Dad has addressed me in my life he has called me, “David,” which would be my brother’s name. The other 40 percent of the time, he has gone with such creative choices as “Tony” (my other brother) and “Hey, uh, you.” He has also had those occasional moments when he just looked at me with that frozen look that “Jeopardy” contestants have when they buzz in but don’t quite remember the answer.

Dad gets around this with his granddaughters by calling them both “Sunshine.”

So when I asked him to name his favorite player — so I could write about Dads and baseball for Father’s Day — he said, “Oh you know, what’s-his name? That guy I liked a lot. The good one. Oh, you know.”

Man, that is exactly what my son is going to say about me. Of course, I love players like Jim Eisenreich and Andres Gallaraga, so if I tell him the exact name, it still won't mean anything to him.

Might as well just say "You know, that one plucky guy who overcame a horrible disease".

Happy Fathers day to all of the sons and dads out there.

--Extra P.

I'm really just posting this to get OMDQ's video of the top of the page. That thing had me choked up for most of the morning. Just kidding (about moving the video...not being choked up).

Pops and I are headed to an O's game where he can repeatedly curse the name of Jay Gibbons live and in-person. On the ride home after the game I'll hear the tale of his no-hitter in highschool, and that if they "benched most of these players...it would send a message" (Sorry Dad....doesn't work that way anymore). He'll end up passing out on the couch, but not before telling me about Brooks Robinson, Boog Powell, Frank Robinson, Earl Weaver, Dave McNally, and for some reason....his favorite player....Larry Sheets???

You know what?

I wouldn't have it any other way....Happy Father's Day everyone. Enjoy the U.S. Open and I'll see you tomorrow for a Day that won't choke you up like Tiger's win today.

Last Year's AA Father's Day Post (Awful Announcing)

(posted by OMDQ)

(programming note: posting will be inconsistent tomorrow due to my required presence at a family barbecue. Yeah, I'll miss all of you too)

Maybe it's because I was fortunate enough to grow up with a great dad. Maybe it's because in less than a month, I'll be standing in the delivery room of the local hospital, introducing myself to my own son. Or maybe, it's because I work with special needs kids and have seen parents who would literally run a marathon if they thought it might bring some joy to their child's life.

Whatever the reason, one thing is undeniable: this video made me cry like a Little Leaguer meeting Erin Andrews for the first time and realizing a female of that caliber will never again initiate conversation with him. None of that "it's the end of Field of Dreams and he's playing catch with his dead dad and it's so nice and I wanna go play catch with my dad RIGHT NOW right this DAMN MINUTE even though he lives an hour away and by the time I get there I really won't feel like playing catch anymore and he'll probably just be doing yard work anyway and won't have the time" crap, either; it was more of the "aw, hell, might as well just let 'em go and wipe my eyes in four minutes" quality.

Moral of the story: if you have a father, are a father, or know any good fathers, keep a tissue or two handy while watching this. I promise, we won't think less of you for it.

(posted by OMDQ)

The weird thing about this video is that Bill Parcells actually imparts some good advice about raising kids - spend time with them, teach them, love them, don't waste opportunities to positively impact their lives. It's surprisingly good stuff from a guy who once motivated a player by referring to him as "she" to the media.

Most of the other stuff here, however, is both odd and compelling (does that make it oddly compelling?). From Tim Brown rambling almost incoherently about focus (he should have paid extra to get Parcells' cue card writer) to Phil Dawson's proud papa story about his three-year-old (you could tell he wanted to mention that his kid was a better kicker than Christopher), it just kept getting better and better.

Please enjoy. And try to focus.