Tigers’ Fick Is a Force in Front of Family

The 16-person Robert Fick cheering section that flew to Kansas City earlier this week to watch the former Cal State Northridge All-American play for the Detroit Tigers got its money’s worth.

The group, comprised of Fick’s parents, Charlie and Gloria, four brothers and a sister, and several friends and former coaches, missed his major league debut, which occurred in Detroit on Sunday.

In that game, Fick went two for four with a double, a stolen base and a run batted in.

But he saved plenty of fireworks for the family.

Against the Royals, Fick hit a two-run home run Monday, another home run Tuesday and went two for four with two RBIs on Wednesday. He played catcher in the first two games and first base in the third.

In his first four major league games, he was seven for 15 with two homers, a double and six RBIs.

“He belongs there,” said Mike Batesole, the Cal State Northridge coach who watched from a front row field-level seat. “He is so composed, so patient and so disciplined.

“But I got the most fun out of watching the Fick clan in action. To sit back and watch a family that has been so supportive of Robert for so many years have the time of their lives made it all worthwhile.”