Sam Fuld

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Samuel Babson Fuld

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[edit] Biographical Information

Sam Fuld is an outfielder in the Chicago Cubs system. He set the College World Series career hit record and was the Arizona Fall League MVP in 2007. Fuld has overcome diabetes to make it to the major leagues.

[edit] Early life

Fuld is the son of a Jewish father and Christian mother. As a child, he was exposed to customs of both religions.

Fuld hit .613 as a high school freshman and followed with seasons of .489,.600 and .550. He was a four-time Central New England Prep School Baseball League All-Conference pick and was the New Hampshire High School Player of the Year in 2000 according to Gatorade. Baseball America listed him as the #19 high school prospect.

[edit] College career

As a freshman, Fuld hit .357 with a .441 OBP and 56 runs and was picked as a second-team freshman All-American by Baseball America. He was an All-Pacific-10 Conference pick, joining Shelley Duncan, Chris Duffy, Ben Francisco and Carlos Quentin in the outfield. Fuld batted .396 in the postseasn as Stanford finished second in the country to the University of Miami. Fuld was named to the 2001 College World Series All-Tournament team.

Joining US's college national team, Fuld hit .310, second to Jeremy Reed on a squad loaded with future major leaguers. In 2002, Fuld hit .375/.426/.553 and was named as a first-team All-American by the ABCA, Baseball America and Baseball Weekly. He set a Stanford record with 110 hits. He finished 6th in NCAA Division I in hits, leading the Pac-10 Conference. He again made the All-Conference team. He led the #4 team in the country in average, finishing third in the Pac-10. He once again dazzled in the postseason, hitting .421 and slugging .789 with 6 runs in 4 games in the 2002 College World Series. For the second straight year, he made the College World Series All-Tournament team. He only hit .190 that summer for Team USA, worst of their starters, slugging .219. In the 2002 World University Championship, he batted .269/.296/.308 with a .779 fielding percentage for the Silver Medalists. During the 2002 Haarlem Baseball Week, Fuld was 4 for 16 with a double, 2 walks and an error.

Fuld hit .321/.399/.480 as a junior as his OBP fell for the third straight year. He did well in two areas though - runs (83, tied with Dustin Pedroia, Rickie Weeks and Stephen Drew for 4th in NCAA Division I) and triples (9, tied with three others for second in NCAA Division I). It helps you score when Ryan Garko, Carlos Quentin and John Mayberry Jr. are hitting after you. He failed to make the All-Pac-10 team that year. For the second straight year, he did not make an error in Conference games. He tied the school record for runs, sharing the Pac-10 lead with Pedroia, and tied for the Conference lead in triples with Jeff Van Houten. He homered twice in the 2003 College World Series as Stanford finished second but he did not make the All-Tournament outfield though teammates Quentin and Danny Putnam were both picked.

The Chicago Cubs took Fuld in the 23rd round of the 2003 amateur draft but he opted to stay in college. In the Cape Cod League, he shone for ther Hyannis Mets, hitting .361/~.441/.445. He was second in the Cod League in average behind J.C. Holt and he made the All-Star team as an outfielder.

In 2004, the senior posted a declining OBP for the 4th straight year, batting .273/.388/.349 for the worst OPS of his college career. He had 7 outfield assists. He finished his college career with the most runs (266) and at-bats (1,054). He was second in Stanford history in hits (353) and games (256) and tied for third in triples (16). His batting line in college was .335/.416/.466. He had hit .358 in the College World Series and was the CWS record holder in career hits (24). He graduated with a degree in economics.

[edit] Professional career

Chicago again took Fuld, in the 10th round of the 2004 amateur draft. He debuted professionally with the 2005 Peoria Chiefs and batted .300/.377/.433 with 82 runs and 18 steals in 29 tries. He just missed the top 10 in the Midwest League in batting average.

In 2006, the left-handed flyhawk again hit an even .300. His OBP wemt up one point and his slugging went down one. His base-stealing was much better with 22 successes in 25 tries. He did not get enough plate appearances to qualify for the Florida State League title or he would have ranked 5th, between Robinzon Díaz and Cody Ehlers.

Fuld batted .290/.372/.388 in 90 games for the Tennessee Smokies, then .269/.397/.442 in 14 for the Iowa Cubs. He was a September call-up to Chicago. He debuted as a defensive substitute for Alfonso Soriano and did not handle a chance that game. In his next game, he pinch-ran for Cliff Floyd and scored on a Soriano homer. He did not get a plate appearance until his 9th game, when he pinch-hit for Kevin Hart against Franquelis Osoria and grounded out to Osoria. He was 0 for 3 with 3 walks in 14 games for the 2007 Cubs, mostly being used as a pinch-runner and defensive sub (9 putouts, one outfield assist).

That winter, Fuld played in the Arizona Fall League, hitting .402/.492/.626 for the Mesa Solar Sox. He was second in the AFL in average, 5 points behind Corey Wimberly but led in both OBP and slugging. He tied for third in walks (17), tied for 4th in steals (10), tied for 3rd in runs (20), led in hits (43) and led in doubles (11). He was named AFL MVP and also won the Dernell Stinson Sportsmanship Award, becoming the first player to do both in one year.

As a result of his winning the Stinson Award, he was given $500 to donate to the charity of his choice. He opted for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Fund as he had been diagnosed with diabetes when he was 10 years old.


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