Derby "Lucky Bet" Winner Fullerton Loses Winnings on Mets

Glen Fullerton was on the hot streak of a lifetime.  First the computer programmer from Houston, TX wins CNBC's "Call The Close" contest for a chance to bet $100,000 on the Kentucky Derby.  Then he chose a 9-1 horse named Super Saver and hit a $900,000 jackpot when the horse won this Saturday's Kentucky Derby.  It was all too easy for Fullerton, so you can understand why he might have been feeling invincible when he put his $900,000 winnings on the dependable left arm of Mets ace Johan Santana.

"This guy is so consistent.", said Fullerton, in a special pre-game press conference before Sunday nights Mets-Phillies matchup.  "If they score a few runs for him, I can't lose."

As it turns out, the Mets would have needed to score 12 runs as Santana turned in the worst performance of his career in an 11-5 loss that cost the Mets first place and cost Fullerton almost a million dollars.  Was the enormous bet going through the mind of the usually reliable lefty?

"Maybe...I don't know.", Santana told The Apple after the game.  "It was definitely on my mind before the game.  I even talked to Oliver Perez about how to deal with so much undeserved money being on the line and he gave me some advice but I thought I was in a good place mentally when I took the mound.  I guess maybe I was still thinking about it."


Santana will throw next against the Giants at Citi Field over the weekend.  As for Fullerton, he will return to his computer programming job in Houston with empty pockets and one heck of a story to tell.

The lesson in all of this?  Whether it's baseball or horse racing: There's no such thing as a sure thing.

All articles featured on The Apple are fictitious. No Mets were harmed in the writing of this story.

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