Sam Fuld lost his tooth in the Tampa Bay Rays 3-2 win against the Seattle Mariners Friday night. Although the win helps in their battle for the playoffs with the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox, all the buzz is about the little outfielder that looks more like he plays for the Tampa Bay Lightning than the Rays.
Fuld entered the game in the eighth inning to pinch hit for Sean Rodriguez with the Rays trailing by a run. He hit a single through the hole at shortstop.
That’s when the mystery of the missing tooth began.
The television broadcast showed Fuld without his smile that fans have come to love. Social media was full of inquiries about the location of his missing tooth.
“I wish I had a good story like I was out skating this morning. It all comes back to May or whatever when I banged my head into J.J. Hardy. It chipped my crown, and I’m trying to get a permanent one going but it’s been a while. I’ve had this temporary thing in there and it keeps popping out.”
After a request from the media for him to say, “Super Sam Fuld,” the story got better.
“Today I decided to chew some gum—real bright idea—and the next thing I know it’s in my gum and the gum became really crunchy. The crown just broke into a bunch of pieces, and that was that. The problem is I got a hit tonight so I’m thinking of leaving it out.”
Even some of Fuld’s teammates weren’t fully aware of the fake tooth.
“I just found out that he had a fake tooth our last homestand, I had no idea,” said Evan Longoria. “This clubhouse has a bunch of characters, it’s really what keeps it light around here. For him to be walking around without a tooth and to think it’s the funniest thing is the world is awesome.”
After the saga of the missing tooth, Fuld would go on to score on an Evan Longoria single starting the Rays eighth inning rally.
Johnny Damon would score the game-winning run on a Ben Zobrist single to center field.
Jamal Wilburg is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. All quotes obtained first-hand.
You can follow him on Twitter @JWilburg
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