#246: Terry Felton

Terry Felton

I) Terry Felton --> '82 Twins

I don't have many Twins teams connected, so I was mildly enthused to use this team. Wouldn't you know? The '82 squad is one of the few connected Twins teams I had. I'm going to try an earlier team and see if I can match the number of degrees.

I) Terry Felton --> '80 Twins --> Gary Ward

II) Ward --> '90 Tigers

The Tigers team has been previously connected as well. At least I can add one team here.

1. Terry Felton played for the 1980 Minnesota Twins with Gary Ward.
2. Gary Ward played for the 1990 Detroit Tigers with Tony Phillips.
3. Tony Phillips played for the 1999 Oakland Athletics with Matt Stairs!

Degrees of Matt Stairs: 3

#217: Tommy Fine

Tommy Fine

I) Tommy Fine --> '50 St. Louis Browns

I already connected this team, so I'm going to try the only other team he played for.

I) Tommy Fine --> '47 Red Sox --> Chuck Stobbs, Billy Goodman

II) Goodman --> '62 Houston Colt .45's
II) Stobbs --> '61 Twins

Billy Goodman is a connected player. The '61 Twins are a connected team. Twins get me to Stairs quicker.

1. Tommy Fine played for the 1947 Boston Red Sox with Chuck Stobbs.
2. Chuck Stobbs played for the 1961 Minnesota Twins with Jim Kaat.
3. Jim Kaat played for the 1980 New York Yankees with Rick Cerone.
4. Rick Cerone played for the 1992 Montreal Expos with Matt Stairs!

Degrees of Matt Stairs: 4

#206: Jophrey Brown

Jophrey Brown

I) Jophrey Brown --> '68 Cubs

I have the '67 Cubs team already, so this may be a quick one.

I) Jophrey Brown --> '68 Cubs --> Joe Niekro

Yep, that was easy.

1. Jophrey Brown played for the 1968 Chicago Cubs with Joe Niekro.
2. Joe Niekro played for the 1988 Minnesota Twins with Eric Bullock.
3. Eric Bullock played for the 1992 Montreal Expos with Matt Stairs!

Degrees of Matt Stairs: 3

#172: Homer Spragins

Homer Spragins

I) Homer Spragins --> '47 Phillies

I have the '46 Phillies team already, so there's a chance I can use the same connecting player.

I) Homer Spragins --> '47 Phillies --> Curt Simmons

II) Simmons --> '67 Cubs
II) Simmons --> '67 Angels

I already have the Angels team, so we;ll go with the Cubs.

II) Simmons --> '67 Cubs --> Fred Norman, Joe Niekro, Ken Holtzman
      III) Holtzman --> '76 Orioles
      III) Niekro --> '88 Twins
      III) Niekro --> '87 Yankees
      III) Norman --> '80 Expos

Just on a whim, I'm going to try the Twins team.

      III) Niekro --> '88 Twins --> Eric Bullock
              IV) Bullock --> '92 Expos

Done!

1. Homer Spagins played for the 1947 Philadelphia Phillies with Curt Simmons.
2. Curt Simmons played for the 1967 Chicago Cubs with Joe Niekro.
3. Joe Niekro played for the 1988 Minnesota Twins with Eric Bullock.
4. Eric Bullock played for the 1992 Montreal Expos with Matt Stairs!

Degrees of Matt Stairs: 4

#149: Ford Garrison

Ford Garrison

I) Ford Garrison --> '46 Philadelphia Athletics --> Elmer Valo

II) Valo --> '61 Twins
II) Valo --> '61 Phillies

I've only connected one other Twins team, so I'll use them again.

II) Valo --> '61 Twins --> Jim Kaat

Done.

1. Ford Garrison played for the 1946 Philadelphia Athletics with Elmer Valo.
2. Elmer Valo played for the 1961 Minnesota Twins with Jim Kaat.
3. Jim Kaat played for the 1980 New York Yankees with Rick Cerone.
4. Rick Cerone played for the 1992 Montreal Expos with Matt Stairs!

Degrees of Matt Stairs: 4

#34: Pete Redfern

Pete Redfern

There's only a 10 year gap between Redfern and Stairs, so I know I can make my connection. However I still need a plan. Looking at the '82 Twins, there's no shortage of players who played until at least 1992. I know some players here played for the Red Sox at some point in their careers, so I'll see if I can find a connection there.

I) Pete Redfern --> '82 Twins --> Tom Brunansky, Frank Viola, Gary Gaetti

II) Brunansky, Viola --> '94 Red Sox

One more year later and they would have played with Tim Wakefield. However...

II) Gaetti --> 2000 Red Sox

Gaetti ended a very good career playing a handful of games for the Bosox in 2000. We have our link:

1. Pete Redfern played for the 1982 Minnesota Twins with Gary Gaetti.
2. Gary Gaetti played for the 2000 Boston Red Sox with Tim Wakefield.
3. Tim Wakefield played for the 1995 Boston Red Sox with Matt Stairs!

Degrees of Matt Stairs: 3

Another successful link using Tim Wakefield. This is my Red Sox bias showing through. I'm familiar enough with the Red Sox teams of the 90's and onward that I know if I can find anyone who played for Boston from 1995 until now is as good a linked.