sam fuld | The Baseball Zealot

The Cubs won today. And you know winning the first game of spring training means everything in the world, right?

But the Cubs did get the right hits from the right people. Fuld, (homerun), newly acquired Marlon Byrd (2 for 2, homerun), Tyler Colvin (2 doubles, homerun), Derrek Lee (homerun, yawn), and Starlin Castro, who seems to be everyone’s freakin’ darlin’, (triple).

I kid, I love the guy. Castro came in relief for Ryan Theriot and his triple seemed to say, “Find a another position, Cajun dude!” Which just might happen. The baseball pundit hordes are calling for Theriot to move to second base and it’s probably on Cubs management’s mind, too.

But first and foremost on Cubs manager Lou Piniella’s mind, is how to spell Kosuke Fukudome’s nickname. From Cubs beat writer Carrie Muskat, Lou says it’s “Fuke”. I guess that “e” keep us Cub fans morally clean. Perhaps they should issue a press release.

The press (mlb.com and the Cubs in particular) have been making a big deal about Alfonso Soriano and how gosh darn healthy he is.

I don’t know about you but that kind of talk scares the beejeezus out of me. One, you don’t talk about it unless there is something to be worry about and two, why are they tempting fate? Almost like talking during a pitcher’s no-hitter. “Well, Ron, Soriano’s gone through the season so far a not a hint of a hamstring pull.” “We’ve been pretty lucky. He’s sure to go through the whole season without a visit to the DL.”

Then BAM!

Let’s just keep it quiet and count our blessings. And win another… even if it is just spring training.

Interesting piece on ESPN Chicago about Cubs OF Sam Fuld. Not only is he a decent outfielder but he is a stathead too.

"He was only 5 or 6 and he was already computing batting averages and ERAs," (father) Ken said. "He’d sit in the bathtub, and I’d say ‘If a guy goes 17-for-37, 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."

The love for stats apparently continued as he grew up. Fuld, an economics major at Stanford, even interned at Stats Inc.

Tag: sam fuld

Let’s just pack it up now, cuz it won’t get any better for the Cubs

Fuld is a numbers guy