Sam Fuld

He began his baseball career by twice batting .600 in high school, during which time Baseball America ranked him 19th in the country.

Fuld played college baseball at Stanford University.

There, he was a two-time All-American, set the school record for career runs scored, and established the College World Series record for career hits.

Samuel Babson Fuld (born November 20, 1981) is an American former professional baseball outfielder and the current general manager of the Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball (MLB).

He played eight seasons in MLB for the Chicago Cubs, Tampa Bay Rays, Oakland Athletics, and Minnesota Twins.

He led his club to a league title as a junior in 1999, as he batted .600 with 9 steals.

As a senior, he hit .550 with 6 homers, 12 RBIs, and 13 stolen bases.

He was a three-time team captain and four-time MVP of the varsity baseball team.

He was named a 2000 Pre-season First Team All-American by Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball, USA Today, and Fox Sports.

Fuld was also listed 19th among the 100 Top High School Prospects of 2000 by Baseball America, and selected the New Hampshire 2000 Gatorade High School Player of the Year.

In addition he was a four-time Central New England Prep School Baseball League All-Conference player.

Fuld was selected by the Chicago Cubs in the 2004 Major League Baseball draft.

He was an All Star two years later in the Florida State League.

A year after that, Fuld was voted the Most Valuable Player in the Arizona Fall League.

In the minor leagues—as a result of his defensive play—he was referred to as "a crash test dummy with a death wish", a "human wrecking ball act", a "wall magnet", and a "manager's dream and a trainer's worst nightmare".

Fuld made his major league debut with the Cubs in 2007.

He became a fan favorite for his defense and his tendency to run into outfield walls while making catches.

Fuld batted .299 in his longest stint with the Cubs, but appeared only in late-season call-ups over three years.

After the 2010 season, he was traded to the Tampa Bay Rays.

Fuld made the Rays' 2011 opening day roster, and won the jobs of starting left fielder and leadoff hitter by mid-April.

Due to early-season heroics, including a "Superman-esque" catch, he was dubbed "Superman", "Super Sam", and "The Legendary Sam Fuld".

Fuld's catch was put to Superman-theme music in a YouTube video, and tweets about him went viral.

In late April, Fuld led the American League (AL) in both batting average and steals.

He played with the Rays through 2013.

In 2014–2015, Fuld played for the Oakland A's (for two stints) and Minnesota Twins.

Fuld played center field and batted lead-off for Team Israel at the 2017 World Baseball Classic.

Fuld was born in Durham, New Hampshire.

His father is Jewish and his mother is Catholic, and he has said that he was "kind of raised celebrating both" religions' holidays.

He weighed 10 lbs at birth, so big he was nicknamed "Cool Papa Sam."

He is the son of Kenneth Fuld, former Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Professor of Psychology at the University of New Hampshire, and Amanda Merrill, a former New Hampshire State Senator.

He is also a second cousin, once removed, of former Lehman Brothers CEO Dick Fuld.

He got his start playing baseball hitting plastic wiffle balls pitched by his grandmother when he was three years old.

As a young child, Fuld carried around a copy of The Complete Baseball Handbook instead of a security blanket.

"He was only 5 or 6 and he was already computing batting averages and ERAs", his father said.

"He'd sit in the bathtub, and I'd say 'If a guy goes 17-for-38, what's his batting average?' What struck me is that he'd perform these operations in very creative ways–not just that he got the right answer, but his methodology, adding in a factor and then dividing by 10, etc. I'd watch him and say 'wow,' just like I said 'wow' when he used to hit."

Fuld attended Berwick Academy as an eighth grader, during which time he made the high school varsity baseball team, and the University of New Hampshire's baseball coach said that he had the best batting swing of any player in the state.

He was the team's MVP, and a league All Star.

He then transferred to Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire, where he played baseball and soccer, and ran track.

Because of the climate, the league played a short baseball season, and some of the games were played as it snowed.

Fuld batted .613 as a freshman, and .489 as a sophomore with 11 steals.