Sam Fuld is one of the lone bright spots on a Cubs team full of underachievers. He made another dazzling play in the outfield Monday night against the Milwaukee Brewers, making a diving catch in the fifth to preserve a 1-0 Cubs lead.

The 27-year-old outfielder has quickly become popular with the Wrigley faithful thanks in large part to the energy he shows on the field, a quality that hasn't always been apparent up and down the roster this season.

I caught up with the New Hampshire native earlier in the season, and we touched on a number of topics, including Wiffle ball, politics, Steve Urkel, Old Style beer and my resemblance to a former college teammate of his:

Nick Friedell: After you make all these highlight-reel catches, do you catch the ball and then go, "Hey, I might have just made 'SportsCenter'?"

Sam Fuld: [Laughs] I don't think so … not immediately. I catch it and think like, "Do I have all my teeth?" first, [then] "Am I bleeding?" Usually it's, like, teammates that remind me; you come back and they're like, "Dude, that's gonna be on ESPN tonight." That's kinda when it just sinks in.

Friedell: Do you ever turn on "Baseball Tonight," though, and go, "Oh, I'm a Web Gem?"

Fuld: I usually don't make a point of it. I kinda just let my friends and family let me know, but I'm a big ESPN fan, so a lot of times it's kinda like my default channel, so if I'm just hanging out in the room, usually ESPN's on. I won't go out of my way to watch [the replays], but if I happen to glance at it, it's kinda cool.

Friedell: But you've turned on the show before and gone, "Whoa, that's me"?

Fuld: Yeah, yeah, that's happened before. It's pretty cool.

Friedell: Surreal?

Fuld: Yeah.

Friedell: I read where your grandma used to throw you Wiffle balls to teach you the game. Do you think that helped with the hand-eye coordination it takes to make all these catches?

Fuld: [Laughs] Probably. I didn't realize it at the time, I was just doing it because it was fun, and I had like a big ol' plastic bat with a barrel the size of a basketball. I think maybe it gave me a little confidence at an early age, but yeah, maybe, who knows? Obviously, you do a lot of learning [at] those early ages. I'm sure it may have something to do with it.

Friedell: Speaking of growing up, are you the most famous and/or recognizable face that's come out of New Hampshire in a while?

Fuld: No. Actually, New Hampshire's got some surprising names.

Friedell: All right, let me hear some.

Fuld: So, [Cardinals pitcher] Chris Carpenter is like the big baseball name. I mean, [Olympic skier] Bode Miller's a New Hampshire guy.

Friedell: A lot of people are split down the middle on Bode Miller. What do you think about him?

Fuld: I like him. I think even if he weren't from New Hampshire I'd like him, but I like him double because he's a New Hampshire guy. I like him. He's got some style.

Friedell: He seems to have no fear when he's skiing, kind of like you do when you're running into the walls. Is that a New Hampshire trait?

Fuld: Maybe. Maybe they breed 'em a little crazy up there. Up in the snow and cold weather you get a little, like, cabin fever, and you get a little psycho sometimes. I don't know. But I think, yeah, there is something to it, you come from a cold-weather place like New Hampshire, and you realize you gotta do whatever it takes to succeed, at least in the world of baseball. You're going up against all those California, Florida and Texas guys that play all year 'round. You don't take anything for granted when you grow up in a cold-weather place like New Hampshire.

Friedell: Your mom is actually a state senator in New Hampshire. What's it like being the son of a senator?

Fuld: It's cool. It's cool. I got a chance to campaign for her [Amanda Merrill, D-Durham] a little bit last year, at the end of the year. Put up some of her signs on people's lawns and stuff like that. It's cool. I'm really happy for her, proud of her, and it means a lot to me. I like to brag about it.

Friedell: Are you going to follow in her footsteps? Have you thought about a political career?

Fuld: I don't know if politics is for me, at least not right now. I'll let her do that. I'll stay out of the politics.

Friedell: If you keep playing well, you could always run for mayor in Wrigleyville.

Fuld: I don't know. That would be too much on my plate. I'm a little more worried about hitting curveballs than winning elections at this point.

Friedell: You grew up going to Fenway Park. What is the biggest difference between Fenway and Wrigley?

Fuld: Good question, because it's usually like, "What are the similarities?" The biggest difference [is] the accents. You don't hear R's in Boston, and it's obviously a little different here. But, no, I guess the Fenway Frank comes to mind. There aren't any Fenway Franks here, no PBRs (Pabst Blue Ribbons) in Fenway.

Friedell: PBR or Old Style -- take your pick.

Fuld: Oh man, I'd say neither. I'm not a big of either, I gotta admit.

Friedell: That's probably a smart move.

Fuld: Yeah.

Friedell: You've always been a stats guy -- what's the biggest stat that goes unnoticed?

Fuld: I'm a little biased, because I think defense kind of gets underappreciated sometimes, especially 'cause there just aren't a lot of good numbers out there to recognize the defense, and I know they're working on it, so I would say an unfound defensive stat at this point.

Friedell: I read a story that said you actually created some of your own.

Fuld: I did. Well, I was just kind of bored one offseason, and I wanted to keep busy. I did a little work for Stats Inc. one fall and I just did some stuff on my own, with nothing really, no set theory in my mind. There [were] so many numbers out there and I thought, there's nothing that I know of on foul balls, and I just plotted data. [But] I ended up losing it, so I didn't find anything out; it was just a big, big waste of time. Needless to say, I haven't done anything [like that] since. It was demoralizing to put in all that time and have it get lost.

Friedell: So there's not going to be a "Sam Fuld Theory" any time soon.

Fuld: Not any time soon, no.

Friedell: Anybody reading this is going to go, "This guy has to be a general manager when he retires." Any thoughts about being a GM?

Fuld: I've thought about it, yeah. I think that would be really fun. In a lot of ways, it's as close as you can get to playing, because you're still competing and it's obviously a pretty sought-after job. But it definitely interests me, and I would love to do that one day if I get a chance to.

Friedell: You seem to care a lot more about the stats and figures of baseball much more than the average baseball player, so would you consider yourself like the Urkel [the nerdy character in the '90s TV sitcom "Family Matters"] of baseball?

Fuld: Haha! I don't know about that. Hopefully, I'm a little cooler than Urkel ...

Friedell: OK, how about Steve Urkel off the field and [his alter ego] Stephon Urkelle on it.

Fuld: Yeah, yeah. Yeah, that works.

Friedell: You were an economics major in college. How does math help you on the field when you're playing?

Fuld: It really doesn't. I don't think about it a whole lot. I don't use it. Maybe subconsciously, I have things in my head, but when I'm playing, I'm not thinking numbers, not thinking stats. I'm trying not to think at all. The less thinking you do in baseball, the better off you are in general. Especially when it comes to hitting and stuff like that. I try to block all that out.

Friedell: So that Stanford education, while you're on the field ...

Fuld: Doesn't apply. I might as well be a high school dropout out there.

Friedell: I've heard "Crash Test Dummy" and a couple others, is there another nickname you've been given that people don't know about?

Fuld: Not that I know of. Guys a few years ago started calling me "Sammy Ballgame," so that kind of stuck. A lot of guys call me that, or at least they did down in the minors. I like that one.

Friedell: That's like "Teddy Ballgame" back in Boston for Ted Williams.

Fuld: I know, I know. That's why I like it.

Friedell: Getting back to Stanford, is there a prettier college campus in America?

Fuld: Not that I've seen. There's some great ones out there, but I'll never forget that first time I went out there for a recruiting trip, and I just -- my jaw dropped, because I had never been to California, I had never seen anything close to that. That sold me right away when I saw that campus.

Friedell: You played with [White Sox outfielder] Carlos Quentin at Stanford. Was he as intense in college as he seems to be now?

Fuld: Yeah, I think so. That's why he's as good as he is. He's superintense. He's really laid-back off the field, but on the field he's like the ultimate competitor. He's so professional and competitive out there. Playing with him, I learned a lot, just how he approached the game every day, and [I've] got a ton of respect for the way he goes about it.

Friedell: So he's really a fun guy to be around off the field?

Fuld: Yeah. On the field he's tough to talk to, but he's a good friend of mine.

Friedell: All anyone has told me since I moved up here is that I look like him. I asked him whether we did, and he said no. What do you think?

Fuld: I'm thinking a little bit, yeah, definitely the ... yeah, for sure. You got the same basic hair, although I don't know what his hair's like nowadays, it's probably a little longer. But yeah, I see it. I wouldn't stop you on the streets and say, "You look like Carlos," but I see it, man.

Friedell: So if I'm at the bar and some girl walks up and goes, "Are you Carlos Quentin?" …

Fuld: You could get away with it, sure. Why not? Just don't tell him about it.

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