Fehlandt Lentini

Fehlandt A. Lentini (born August 12, 1977, in Santa Rosa, California) is a former American professional baseball outfielder who last played for the Long Island Ducks. Lentini, an outfielder, has played with many different minor and independent league teams over his career, which began in 2001 with the Martinsville Astros of the rookie-level Appalachian League. He attended Sonoma State University and from there, was signed by the Houston Astros as an amateur free agent. In the Astros organization, he played with six different teams from 2001 to 2003. During the 2004 season, Lentini began his tenure in the independent league circuit, signing with the Kalamazoo Kings of the Frontier League. That season, was named a league all-star.

From 2006 to 2008, Lentini was selected to play in the Northern League All-Star Game as a member of the Winnipeg Goldeyes. After joining the Golden Baseball League in 2009, he was chosen to play in the season's all-star game. Also in 2009 Lentini, as a member of the Calgary Vipers, was named the Golden Baseball League's Player of the Week for June 1 to 7. The Vipers won the league championship that season. In October 2010, his alma mater, Sonoma State University, will induct him into the Sonoma State Athletic Hall of Fame.

Aside from his time as a player, Lentini is notable for his tenure as manager of the Sonoma Stompers, chronicled in the book The Only Rule Is It Has To Work.

Amateur career While attending Napa Valley College, Lentini was selected in the 41 round of the 1996 Major League Baseball draft by the Texas Rangers, but did not sign. He was one of ten students of Napa Valley College to be selected in the history of the Major League Baseball draft. Lentini then transferred to Sonoma State University. During his first season at Sonoma State in 1998, Lentini batted .309 with 15 stolen bases. On the season, he batted .310 with 57 runs scored, 106 hits, 16 doubles, nine triples, seven home runs, 60 RBIs and 28 stolen bases in 90 games played. In the field, he played all of his 85 defensive games as an outfielder, committing three errors, 11 assists and 167 putouts. Amongst league batters that season, Lentini led in triples, was sixth in stolen bases and was tied for tenth in hits. He led the Kings in hits, triples, RBIs, stolen bases, total bases (161) and sacrifice flies (9). During the next season, he signed with the Sioux Falls team, but was released before the start of the season. Slam! Sports described the trade as "perhaps the biggest trade of the 2005 Northern League season". During that week, Lentini batted .469 with three home runs and eight RBIs. Amongst league batters, Lentini was third in triples; fourth in stolen bases, runs scored and hits; tied for fourth in caught stealing (9); sixth in batting average; tied for sixth in total bases (203); and seventh in at-bats (383). Before the 2006 season, the Railcats re-signed Lentini.

Winnipeg Goldeyes (2006–2008) Before the 2006 season, the Gary Southshore Railcats traded Lentini to the Winnipeg Goldeyes, also of the Northern League. Winnipeg manager Rick Forney was convinced to trade for Lentini by the team's bench coach Steve Maddock. On the season, he batted .325 with 93 runs scored, 136 hits, 32 doubles, 13 triples, six home runs, 49 RBIs and 57 stolen bases in 96 games played. Lentini played all of his 96 games as an outfielder, committing six errors, five assists and 269 putouts. He led the league at-bats (418), triples and stolen bases; was second in plate appearances (452) runs scored, hits, doubles and total bases (212); and eighth in batting average. His 13 triples was a Northern League single-season record, breaking the previous record of 12 set by Justin Foust in 2005. He also holds the league record for the second most stolen bases in a single-season. During the season, he batted .321 with 86 runs scored, 130 hits, 36 doubles, seven triples, 10 home runs, 54 RBIs and 42 stolen bases in 92 games played. He led the league in at-bats (405) and stolen bases, was second in runs scored and triples, fourth in total bases (210), and sixth in hits.

Lentini started the 2008 season with the Potros de Tijuana of the Triple-A Mexican League. After just 10 games, he batted .268 with four runs scored, 11 hits, four doubles and five RBIs. Tijuana then released him. Scheduled to return to Winnipeg for the start of the Northern League season, Lentini was forced to stay in Mexico until Potros de Tijuana paid him his salary.

Calgary Vipers, second tenure (2009) Lentini began the 2009 season with the Tecolotes de Nuevo Laredo of the Triple-A Mexican League. In 22 games Nuevo Laredo, he batted .266 with 14 runs scored, 25 hits, six doubles, two triples, two home runs, 11 RBIs and four stolen bases. On May 17, 2009, the Lentini signed with the Calgary Vipers, who he had played with in 2005. This time, the Vipers were members of the Golden Baseball League. On June 11, it was announced that Lentini was the Golden Baseball League's Player of the Week for the week of June 1 to June 7 after batting .545 in five games. He was selected to the Golden Baseball League's All-Star Game that season. Lentini was the leadoff hitter in the all-star game. On the season with the Vipers, Lentini batted .366 with 98 runs scored, 122 hits, 33 doubles, three triples, 11 home runs, 57 RBIs and 33 stolen bases in 74 games played. On the season, he batted .299 with 70 runs scored, 86 hits, 24 doubles, four triples, 13 home runs, 30 RBIs and 28 walks in 74 games played.

Winnipeg Goldeyes (2013) Lentini would return to the Goldeyes in 2013 where he would play 97 games holding a .271 average while hitting seven home runs, 26 doubles and driving in 45 runs.

Long Island Ducks (2014) In 2014, Lentini would make his Long Island Ducks debut where he would lead the Atlantic League in plate appearances (649) and at bats (593). The 36-year-old would place second in hits (172) and (46)stolen bases with a perfect 46-for-46 ratio. He also placed third in games played (137), runs scored (96) and fourth in doubles with (36).

Sonoma Stompers (2015) On February 15, Lentini was named player manager of the Sonoma Stompers of the Pacific Association. After winning the first half of the season, Lentini was let go. Lentini logged 32 games played with the Stompers and a .289 average while driving in 27 runs and scoring 26 of his own.

Return to Long Island Ducks (2015-2017) In late July, Lentini signed with the Ducks for the remainder of the 2015 season. In 48 games played, Lentini batted .291 with 21 rbis in 213 at bats.

In 2016, Lentini led the Atlantic League with (630) plate appearances, (571) at bats, (179) hits, runs (108), (42) doubles and tied for first with (140) games played. He'd also place top five in total bases (260), runs batted in (85), stolen bases (51), hit by pitches (10) and triples (6). On July 13, Lentini would play for the Liberty Division for the 2016 ALPB All-Star game, and nearly winning the league’s MVP award

In the 2017 season, Lentini was inserted as the starting right fielder and remained so for the first half of the season but was unable to repeat last years success and struggled batting .234 with three home runs and 15 runs batted in with 28 steals in 69 games played before being benched for younger players. Accustomed to starting and playing everyday, Lentini immediately demanded a trade or release in order find a starting job elsewhere. The Ducks refused and instead placed him on the teams inactive list. Lentini then went to the ballpark before the Ducks next home game and handed out fliers to fans asking them to demand his release. This resulted in his immediate suspension from the Ducks and the Atlantic League. He has not played professionally in any league since.

Foreign Leagues

Lentini spent five seasons playing in the Mexican League, Puerto Rican Winter League and Venezuelan Winter League. Over 107 games in the combined three leagues, Lentini batted .279 with 51 runs batted in, 59 runs scored, 26 doubles, 10 triples, four home runs and 16 stolen bases.

Career milestones Over 17 professional seasons, Lentini had 2,111 hits, 486 doubles, 97 triples, 134 home runs and 916 runs batted in. In 1,713 career games played, Lentini held a .303 average and had 576 stolen bases with a career stolen base percentage of 84.2%.

Coaching From 2018 to 2021, Lentini was the hitting and bench coach for the Medicine Hat Mavericks of the Western Canadian Baseball League.

Personal life Lentini was born on August 12, 1977, in Santa Rosa, California. He has stated that he enjoys hiking and mountain biking. Lentini has his own rap album.