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| Fuld's unbelievable diving play on April 9th in Chicago. |
They signed veteran Johnny Damon to fill that void, but since has become the team's full-time designated hitter with the sudden retirement of Manny Ramirez. This opened the door for longtime journeyman Sam Fuld.
Fuld was acquired in the offseason from the Chicago Cubs in an eight-player deal centered around Rays' right-hander Matt Garza.
Surprisley, Fuld made the Rays' 2011 Opening Day roster out of spring training after batting .277 in Port Charlotte.
Major League Baseball got there first taste of Fuld on April 9 in a game against the Chicago White Sox. With the bases loaded, White Sox leadoff hitter Juan Pierre hit a ball down the right field line, Fuld sprinted from right-center all the way to the line to make a diving Superman, citrus catch and rob Pierre of an extra-base hit.
The legend of Sam Fuld was born.
Just two days later, Fuld would play his first career game at Fenway Park and it would be a memorable one.
With both teams off to slow starts the Rays pounded out 19 hits in a 16-5 victory against the rival Red Sox.
Lead by Fuld's four hits and first home run of the season, he came a single away from the cycle. In one of his final at-bats of the game, Fuld hit a ball towards the Green Monster and chose to cruise into second with his second double of the night rather than stopping at first to complete the cycle. Not to mention the two terrific plays Fuld made out in left field to rob multiple Red Sox of base hits.
Fuld's spectacular defensive plays have been a recurring theme on ESPN's Baseball Tonight Web Gems and Sportscenter's Top 10 Plays, with him becoming the recent human highlight reel. Rays' manger Joe Maddon has called Fuld's play in the outfield "fearless" while other suggest it as daredevil like play.
With a 4-1 victory over the White Sox Wednesday, the Rays run their record to 9-9, reaching the 500 mark for the first time after a 1-8 start. The Rays currently sit in second-place in the American League East, behind the 10-6 New York Yankees.
Despite Fuld being hitless in his last eight at-bats, he is still batting .344 on the young season with five runs batted in. That is more than we can say about the guy he placed at Tropicana Field as Crawford is batting only .149 in Boston's first 17 games.
It has been a struggle for Fuld to get here, but it looks as if he may have found himself a home.
After attending Philips Exeter Academy, Fuld decided to play college baseball at Stanford University. There he would break the College World Series record for hits with 24, a record set by Keith Moreland in 1975-76 with 23 hits on his own. Fuld was then drafted by the Cubs in the 24th round of 2003 amateur player draft, but chose not to sign.
A year later, Fuld was drafted yet again by Chicago, this time in the 10th round, and signed in July of 2004.
Fuld would make his Major League debut as a September call-up in 2007, but was never given the opportunity to be any everyday player in the Friendly Confines of Wrigley Field. The 5-foot-10 outfielder is still only 29 and might have just caught a break while entering the prime of his career after a long and hard earned journey through the Minor Leagues.
The Rays will need the spark of a legend to continue if they want to repeat as AL East champions for the first time in franchise history.
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