#45: Tom Needham

Tom Needham

I) Tom Needham --> '14 Cubs --> Bubbles Hargrave, Cy Williams

II) Hargrave --> '30 Yankees --> Red Ruffing, Bill Dickey, Ben Chapman
      III) Ruffing --> '47 White Sox
      III) Dickey --> '46 Yankees
      III) Chapman --> '46 Phillies
II) Williams --> '30 Phillies --> Spud Davis, Chuck Klein, Tommy Thevenow
      III) Thevenow --> '38 Pirates
      III) Davis --> '45 Pirates
      III) Klein --> '44 Blue Jays

The '46 Phillies are a connected team, so I know this will be a success. Tommy Thevenow is also a successful link, but not an option since he required 5 degrees on his own. I have one branch that gets me to 1947, so I'll use that one.

      III) Ruffing --> '47 White Sox --> Dave Philley
              IV) Philley --> '62 Red Sox --> Carl Yastrzemski
                     V) Yastrzemski --> '83 Red Sox

This is a case where taking the longest lasting player probably hurt my chances. This far down the branch, I just don't have enough to make the jump. However, Philley played for the Orioles the two years before, making him a member of a Connected Team. If I use the '61 Orioles, I'll add 4 new teams to my table - that's good enough for me.

1. Tom Needham played for the 1914 Chicago Cubs with Bubbles Hargrave.
2. Bubbles Hargrave played for the 1930 New York Yankees with Red Ruffing.
3. Red Ruffing played for the 1947 Chicago White Sox with Dave Philley.
4. Dave Philley played for the 1961 Baltimore Orioles with Brooks Robinson.
5. Brooks Robinson played for the 1977 Baltimore Orioles with Dennis Martinez.
6. Dennis Martinez played for the 1993 Montreal Expos with Matt Stairs!

Degrees of Matt Stairs: 6