Ladies and gentlemen, your newest folk hero: Sam Fuld

Sam Fuld is probably getting more cred by not hitting for the cycle in the Tampa Bay Rays 15-6 shmushing of the Boston Red Sox on Monday than if he had accomplished the rarity.

Fuld was included in yesterday’s Pardon The Interruption.

Tony Kornheiser: “Happy Trails” to Sam Fuld’s cycle. He needed a single for the cycle. Fuld lined one down the left field line  and despite his teammates and his manager imploring him to stop at first, Fuld ran to second for the double. No cycle. Good for him….

Michael Wilbon: Did you see his manager, did you see Maddon saying “stop?”

Kornhesier: He didn’t give in to that. I’m proud of him.

Wilbon: Big ups.

On the PTI video, you can clearly see Rays’ manager Joe Maddon in the dugout mouthing “Stop!” when Fuld got the double in his last at bat of the night. The ballplayer said he couldn’t have done it, that instinct told him to take the extra base.

ESPN’s “Sweet Spot” blog also praised Fuld for not giving in to temptation.

Here’s a thought that could have satisfy everybody: he should have let himself get tagged out at second, which meant he would have been credited with the single and thereby achieved the cycle and shown his hustle.

Fuld is becoming a bit of a cult figure with his own following on Twitter under the hashmark “#LegendofSamFuld.” Thanks to KK haver and MLB.com writer Jonathan Mayo for the heads-up.

Among the wittier remarks:

• “Superman wakes up on Saturday mornings and watches Sam Fuld cartoons.”
• “Sam Fuld’s not popular because of Twitter. Twitter is popular because of Sam Fuld”
• “Doc Brown [Back to the Future franchise] turned his delorean into a time machine because he couldn’t wait any longer to watch Sam Fuld play.”
• “Just traded my Air Jordans for some Diving Catch Fulds.”
• “When he was born, the rabbi and the Dr let Sam Fuld perform his own briss.”

You get the idea.

Fuld probably had his largest contingent of reporters around his locker ever after the game. Not to mention the 30 family members and friends he had in the stands to witness the special occasion.

I wonder who that knucklehead is in the background. And was that Fuld’s phone that kept “pinging” new messages?

NESN, the New England Sports Network, is also proud of its native son.

Can Letterman be far behind?

 

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Kaplan’s Korner on Jews and Sports © 2011 New Jersey Jewish News

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