Trying again at Matt Stairs

A lot of you keep in mind Matt Stairs, who performed first base and within the outfield for the Royals from 2004 to 2006. Stairs can greatest be described as a “skilled hitter”. His physique didn’t seem like somebody the Royals would make use of, as they have a tendency in the direction of the leaner, athletic construct.

The Royals covet toolsy athletes and Stairs, standing 5’9 and weighing in at 200 kilos (conservatively) doesn’t awe anybody in these classes. However man, may he hit. In 1,224 plate appearances with the Royals, he stroked 39 residence runs and drove residence 164 on some stinker groups. These Royal groups went 139-262 when Stairs was on the roster. It wasn’t his fault, as his slash was a decent .269/.357/.444 with an OPS+ of 109. He was a member of the 2006 group which was a complete Gong present and misplaced a membership file 106 video games, a mark that may most certainly be erased this season.

No, the actual motive I’m wanting on the profession of Matt Stairs is that he was the one participant in main league historical past to play for every of the 1969 enlargement groups. This could come as no shock as Stairs performed for 13 completely different groups (12 franchises while you mix Montreal with Washington). That’s a file for place gamers, second solely to pitcher Edwin Jackson, who performed for 14 completely different franchises.

Stairs, who grew up in Fredericton, Canada, was a highschool star in baseball and hockey. He superior via the Canadian baseball ranks culminating in a 1988 look for the Canadian Olympic Workforce on the Seoul video games.

In January of 1989, he signed a free agent contract with the Montreal Expos. He made a fast climb via the Expos minor league system and made his Main League debut with them on Might 29, 1992. He collected his first hit on Might 31 with a second inning RBI single off the Reds Jose Rijo.

Stairs hit 265 residence runs over his 19-year profession, however his first didn’t come till July 5, 1995, when he hit a seventh inning solo shot off the Royals Tom Gordon in a recreation at Kauffman. Stairs was a member of the Boston Purple Sox at the moment.

His greatest years have been spent in Oakland between 1996 and 2000. He hit greater than 25 residence runs three seasons in a row and exceeded 100 RBI twice throughout his Oakland tenure.

He landed in Milwaukee in 2002, the second enlargement group, the place he hit 16 residence runs in solely 315 plate appearances.

The Royals have been his third cease in his Growth tour, the place Stairs turned a little bit of a fan favourite. He additionally sported one of many all-time nice baseball nicknames: Marvel Hamster. Apart from his physique, which might greatest be described as Molson muscle, he additionally sported a world class mullet of curly hair in his youthful days. Groovy, eh?

The Royals traded Stairs to the Rangers in July of 2006 for a pitcher named Jose Diaz, who appeared in precisely 4 video games for the Royals. Diaz gave up 10 hits and eight runs in simply 6.2 innings earlier than catching the bus again to Omaha.

Within the meantime, Stairs simply stored hitting. He went from Texas to Detroit to Toronto to Philadelphia, the place he hit an enormous residence run within the 2008 Nationwide League Championship Collection off the Dodgers Jonathon Broxton. He landed in San Diego for the 2010 season, which accomplished his circle of enlargement groups. By this time, he was 42 years outdated and didn’t have a lot left within the tank. He hit a couple of residence runs and was a valued mentor to youthful gamers. He got here full circle in 2011, signing with the Washington Nationals and showing in 56 extra video games, with 74 extra plate appearances, again with the franchise the place all of it started.

When he closed the books on his profession, he was arguably the third greatest Canadian hitter of all-time, exceeded solely by the fabulous duo of Larry Walker and Joey Votto. Stairs ended his profession with a serious league file 23 pinch hit residence runs.

He was elected to the Canadian Baseball Corridor of Fame in 2015 and in retirement coaches highschool hockey for his hometown Fredericton Excessive, in what he calls his dream job.