#263: Hank Greenberg

Hank Greenberg

Hooray! A Hall of Famer! This is only my third randomly generated Hall member.

I) Hank Greenberg --> '47 Pittsburgh Pirate --> Cal McLish

McLish sounded familiar to me. Fortunately, through the miracle of search, I found a half-hearted attempt to use him here. From that post, I get:

II) McLish --> '64 Phillies --> Rick Wise
      III) Wise --> '82 Padres --> Tony Gwyn

We'll continue from here.

              IV) Gwynn --> 2001 Padres --> Damian Jackson, D'Angelo Jimenez, Phil Nevin, Rickey Henderson, Dave Magadan, Emil Brown, Kevin Jarvis, Adam Eaton, Jay Witasick, Jimmy Osting, Rudy Seanez
                     V) Brown --> 2005-06 Royals
                     V) Eaton --> 2006 Rangers, 2008 Phillies
                     V) Henderson --> '98 Athletics
                     V) Jackson --> 2004 Royals
                     V) Jarvis --> '99 Athletics
                     V) Jimenez --> 2006 Rangers
                     V) Magadan --> '97-'98 Athletics
                     V) Nevin --> 2006 Rangers
                     V) Osting --> 2002 Brewers
                     V) Seanez --> 2004 Royals, 2008 Phillies
                     V) Witasick --> '96-'98 Athletics

I could have easily stopped at Rickey, but since I saved some time by finding McLish, I went through with it.

1. Hank Greenberg played for the 1947 Pittsburgh Pirates with Cal McLish.
2. Cal McLish played for the 1964 Philadelphia Phillies with Rick Wise.
3. Rick Wise played for the 1982 San Diego Padres with Tony Gwynn.
4. Tony Gwynn played for the 2001 San Diego Padres with Rickey Henderson.
5. Rickey Henderson played for the 1998 Oakland Athletics with Matt Stairs!

Degrees of Matt Stairs: 5

#259: John Davis

John Davis

I) John Davis --> '90 Padres --> Benito Santiago, Bip Roberts, Derek Lilliquist

II) Lilliquist --> '95 Red Sox
II) Roberts --> '98 Athletics
II) Santiago --> 2004 Royals

Eventually, every member of the 1995 Red Sox will be connected...

1. John Davis played for the 1990 San Diego Padres with Derek Lilliquist.
2. Derek Lilliquist played for the 1995 Boston Red Sox with Matt Stairs!

Degrees of Matt Stairs: 2

#180: Sean Gallagher

Sean Gallagher

I get an easy one after a tough one.

1. Sean Gallagher played for the 2010 San Diego Padres with Matt Stairs!

Degrees of Matt Stairs: 1

#175: Brad Fullmer

Brad Fullmer

Brad Fullmer played on the Rangers two years before Stairs did, making a connection rather easy.

I) Brad Fullmer --> 2004 Rangers

Rather than list everybody who played with Stairs, a quick look at the 2004 team reveals a choice that's easy for me to make - former Padre and new Red Sox star Adrian Gonzalez!

1. Brad Fullmer played for the 2004 Texas Rangers with Adrian Gonzalez.
2. Adrian Gonzalez played for the 2010 San Diego Padres with Matt Stairs!

Degrees of Matt Stairs: 2

#112: Ron Taylor

Ron Taylor

Ron played for a team I've already connected ('65 Astros) and one that is a year after a team I connected ('72 Padres). Both will allow me to connect in 3 steps. Of course, I could go with some other team, but realistically, 3 degrees is the best I can hope for. We'll add a team with the Padres.

1. Ron Taylor played for the 1972 San Diego Padres with Fred Norman.
2. Fred Norman played for the 1980 Montreal Expos with Gary Carter.
3. Gary Carter played for the 1992 Montreal Expos with Matt Stairs!

Degrees of Matt Stairs: 3

#104: Rick Vanden Hurk

Rick Vanden Hurk

An active player - it didn't take long to find a teammate who played with Matt Stairs.

1. Rick Vanden Hurk plays for the 2010 Baltimore Orioles with Miguel Tejada.
2. Miguel Tejada plays for the 2010 San Diego Padres with Matt Stairs!

Degrees of Matt Stairs: 2

Fun Fact: Technically Vanden Hurk never played with Tejada. Baltimore traded Tejada to San Diego a few days before they acquired Vanden Hurk. Although my goal is to find teammates who played together, I don't go so far into detail that I look for them to have actually played a game together either. If anyone cares to nit-pick, Corey Patterson could have been used too.

#98: Jim McAndrew

Jim McAndrew

I) Jim McAndrew --> '74 Padres --> Bill Almond, Nate Colbert, Dave Freisleben, John Scott, Derrel Thomas, Dave Tomlin, Dave Winfield

II) Almond --> '87 Mets --> Gary Carter
II) Colbert --> '75 Expos --> Gary Carter
II) Freisleben --> '79 Blue Jays --> Rick Cerone
II) Scott --> '77 Blue Jays --> Rick Cerone
II) Thomas --> '84 Expos --> Gary Carter
II) Tomlin --> '82 Expos --> Gary Carter
II) Winfield --> '84 Yankees --> Rick Cerone

A lot of choices here. I have to go with Winfield here.

1. Jim McAndrew played for the 1974 San Diego Padres with Dave Winfield.
2. Dave Winfield played for the 1984 New York Yankees with Rick Cerone.
3. Rick Cerone played for the 1992 Montreal Expos with Matt Stairs!

Degrees of Matt Stairs: 3

#95: Dave Robinson

Dave Robinson

I) Dave Robinson --> '71 Padres --> Bill Laxton, Clay Kirby, Fred Norman, Fred Kendall, Nate Colbert, Leron Lee

All of these players played for one of my "Big 3".

II) Colbert --> '75-'76 Expos --> Gary Carter
II) Kendall --> '77 Indians --> Rick Cerone
II) Kirby --> '76 Expos --> Gary Carter
II) Laxton --> '77 Indians --> Rick Cerone
II) Lee --> '75 Indians --> Rick Cerone
II) Norman --> '80 Expos --> Gary Carter

Fred Norman is a good choice here, because I've used him before and he played 16 seasons with 7 different teams.

1. Dave Robinson played for the 1971 San Diego Padres with Fred Norman.
2. Fred Norman played for the 1980 Montreal Expos with Gary Carter.
3. Gary Carter played for the 1992 Montreal Expos with Matt Stairs!

Degrees of Matt Stairs: 3

#48: Zach McClellan

Zach McClellan

McClellan played one season with the Rockies. My best bet is to look at each teammate and see if any of them played directly with Stairs.

I) McClellan --> 2007 Rockies --> Yorvit Torrealba

That didn't take long. Torrealba is currently a member of the Padres.

1. Zach McClellan played for the 2007 Colorado Rockies with Yorvit Torrealba.
2. Yorvit Torrealba plays for the 2010 San Diego Padres with Matt Stairs!

Degrees of Matt Stairs: 2

That's two current members of the Padres in a row.

#47: Clayton Richard

Clayton Richard

My first official current player, and guess what? He's a direct link!

1. Clayton Richard plays for the 2010 San Diego Padres with Matt Stairs!

Degrees of Matt Stairs: 1

It doesn't get any easier than that!

#13: Matt DeWitt

Matt DeWitt

DeWitt played 3 seasons - a quick glance at each team and one name jumped out at me, Alan Embree. I am a die-hard member of Red Sox Nation, and he was on the 2004 World Champion Boston Red Sox. Because of that, I can link him along a similar chain as Jeremy Hermida:

1. Matt DeWitt played for the 2002 San Diego Padres with Alan Embree.
2. Alan Embree played for the 2004 Boston Red Sox with Tim Wakefield.
3. Tim Wakefield played for the 1995 Boston Red Sox with Matt Stairs.

Degrees of Matt Stairs: 3

Chances are if I really looked I probably could have found a more direct link, but I went for what I knew would work.