Fireside Chat Speaker

Sam Fuld '00
Professional Baseball Player

Thursday, January 10, 2008

Sam Fuld attended Phillips Exeter Academy, where he was named a 2000 Pre-season First Team All-American by Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball, USA Today and Fox Sports. He was 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. He was a four-time Central New England Prep School Baseball League All-Conference player. Here at Exeter, he was a three-time captain and four-time MVP of the varsity baseball team.

Sam majored in economics at Stanford University from which he graduated in 2004. He was a 4-year starter. He earned All-American honors in each of his first two seasons, and All-Pac-10 honors each of his first 3 seasons. He is Stanford's all-time leader in runs scored (268) and at bats (1,071). He broke Stanford's single-season record and paced the Pac-10 with 110 hits during his sophomore campaign. He also broke the College World Series record for hits (24).

In 2004, the Cubs drafted him for a second time (in the 10th round) after he turned down their offer in 2003 (after being drafted in the 24th round) to finish his senior year at Stanford.

In 2005 he hit .300 with a .377 obp and 18 stolen bases in 443 at bats for the Peoria Chiefs of the Midwest League, a Class A league. He also collected a 17-game hit streak, and turned in 7 outfield assists from center field.

In 2006 he hit .300 with a .378 obp and 22 steals in 353 at bats for the Daytona Cubs of the Florida State League, a Class A+ league. He was named to the league All-Star team.

In 2007 he batted .291 with a .371 on base percentage, as he began the season with the Tennessee Smokies in the AA Southern League, in 282 at bats. He was the quintessential leadoff hitter for Tennessee with nearly as many walks (32) as strikeouts (33) - a recurring theme in his career, and was touted by his AA manager as having the best outfield skills on the team.

In August, Fuld was promoted to the Iowa Cubs in the AAA Pacific Coast League, where he batted .269 with a .397 on base percentage.

Fuld played for the Mesa Solar Sox in the Arizona Fall League in the Fall of 2007. On October 30th he was named AFL Player of the Week, after hitting .526. In 29 games with the Solar Sox, Fuld played center (primarily) and right fields, led off every game, led the league in batting average (.402), hits (43), doubles (11), total bases (67), obp (.492), and slugging percentage (.626), and was 3rd in the league in runs (20) and walks (17), 4th in stolen bases (10), and 5th in triples (2). He batted even better with runners in scoring position (.462), and against lefties (.500).

Fuld was named the Most Valuable Player of the Arizona Fall League. He also was named to the AFL Top Prospects Team.

Fuld also won the Dernell Stenson Award for Leadership for unselfishness, hard work, and leadership.

Chicago Cubs (2007-current)
In September 2007, the Chicago Cubs called up Fuld to the major league team. He made his debut September 5 against the LA Dodgers as a 9th inning defensive replacement in center field. Fuld was originally sent out to left field, but an error in the scorecard required him to shift to center.

At Wrigley Field against the Pittsburgh Pirates on September 22, 2007, Fuld made a spectacular catch in right field, slamming into the ivy before doubling off a Pirate baserunner at first base. He received a standing ovation from the home crowd as an acknowledgment of his hard-nosed play, and the fans chanted his name when he came to bat in the eighth inning. The play later made ESPN on Baseball Tonight as the # 1 web gem of the day.

Each year during the baseball off-season, Fuld returns to Stanford University, where he is pursuing a master's degree in statistics.

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