#264: Mel Almada

Mel Amada

I) Mel Almada --> '39 St. Louis Browns
I) Mel Almada --> '39 Brooklyn Dodgers

We'll go with the Browns and see what we can come up with.

I) Mel Almada --> '39 St. Louis Browns --> Bobo Newsom, Johnny Berardino

II) Berardino --> '52 Indians, '52 Pirates
II) Newsom --> '53 Philadelphia Athletics

Bobo Newsom is a Connected player. I was about to completely dismiss him and move on to Berardino, but then I noticed something. The '53 Philadelphia Athletics were not one of my connected teams. The '53 Philadelphia Phillies however, were. Uh-oh. I think I made a boo-boo. Which means I'm going to have to go back and fix a few entries here. That won't be fun.

Until then, I have a chain to complete. I'm taking the least represented team, the Pirates.

II) Berardino --> '52 Pirates --> Ron Kline, Dick Hall
      III) Hall --> '71 Orioles
      III) Kline --> '70 Braves

Well, I know if I take the Orioles I can use Brooks Robinson, so I'll stop here.

1. Mel Almada played for the 1939 St. Louis Browns with Johnny Berardino.
2. Johnny Berardino played for the 1952 Pittsburgh Pirates with Dick Hall.
3. Dick Hall played for the 1971 Baltimore Orioles with Brooks Robinson.
4. Brooks Robinson played for the 1977 Baltimore Orioles with Dennis Martinez.
5. Dennis Martinez played for the 1993 Montreal Expos with Matt Stairs!

Degrees of Matt Stairs: 5

#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

#262: John Koronka

John Koronka

I) John Koronka --> 2006 Rangers

A direct connect!

1. John Koronka played for the 2006 Texas Rangers with Matt Stairs!

Degrees of Matt Stairs: 1

#261: Dale Mitchell

Dale Mitchell

I) Dale Mitchell --> '56 Indians
I) Dale Mitchell --> '56 Brooklyn Dodgers

I already have the '56 Indians, so we'll use the Dodgers here.

I) Dale Mitchell --> '56 Brooklyn Dodgers --> Bob Aspromonte

II) Aspromonte --> '71 Mets --> Ken Singleton, Tim Foli, Wayne Garrett, Duffy Dyer, Mike Jorgensen, John Milner, Nolan Ryan
      III) Dyer --> '79 Expos
      III) Foli --> '74-'77 Expos, '84 Yankees
      III) Garrett --> '76-'78 Expos
      III) Jorgensen --> '74-'77 Expos
      III) Milner --> '81-'82 Expos
      III) Ryan --> '93 Rangers
      III) Singleton --> '74 Expos, '76-'84 Orioles

Tough to not go with Ryan here.

      III) Ryan --> '93 Rangers --> Ivan Rodriguez

I could go through the whole Rangers team and probably find a handful of guys who played with Stairs. I'm feeling lazy today, so I'm taking the first guy listed, who happens to be on my Connected Players list already (although I will update the listing!)

1. Dale Mitchell played for the 1956 Brooklyn Dodgers with Bob Aspromonte.
2. Bob Aspromonte played for the 1971 New York Mets with Nolan Ryan.
3. Nolan Ryan played for the 1993 Texas Rangers with Ivan Rodriguez.
4. Ivan Rodriguez plays for the 2011 Washington Nationals with Matt Stairs!

Degrees of Matt Stairs: 4

#260: David Segui

David Segui

I) David Segui --> 2004 Orioles --> Miguel Tejada< Jerry Hairston Jr., Luis Lopez, Robert Machado, Jose Bautista, John Parrish, Mike DeJesus, B.J. Ryan, Rick Bauer, Jason Grimsley, Denny Bautista, Rodrigo Lopez, Buddy Groom

II) Bauer --> 2006 Rangers
II) D. Bautsita --> 2004-06 Royals
II) J. Bautista --> 2004 Royals and 2008 Blue Jays
II) DeJesus --> 2002 Brewers
II) Grimsley --> 2004 Royals
II) Groom --> 1996-99 Athletics
II) Hairston --> 2006 Rangers, 2010 Padres, and 2011 Nationals
II) L. Lopez --> 2002 Brewers
II) R. Lopez --> 2009 Phillies
II) Machado --> 2001 Cubs and 2002 Brewers
II) Parrish --> 2008 Blue Jays
II) Ryan --> 2007-08 Blue Jays
II) Tejada --> '97-2000 Athletics

Geez Louise! That's a lot of players. I've only used the Nats twice so far, making this an easy choice.

1. David Segui played for the 2004 Baltimore Orioles with Jerry Hairston Jr.
2. Jerry Hairston Jr. plays for the 2011 Washington Nationals with Matt Stairs!

Degrees of Matt Stairs: 2

#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

Happy Trails, Matt Stairs!

Matt Stairs Plans to Retire

So long to Matt Stairs. You had a great long career doing something most of us wish we could do. Thanks for everything!

#258: Farmer Burns

Farmer Burns

I) Farmer Burns --> '01 Cardinals --> Bobby Wallace

II) Wallace --> '18 Cardinals

The 1918 St. Louis Cardinals have been connected already. Oh well.

Degrees of Matt Stairs: Over 6

#257: Len Swormstedt

Len Swormstedt

I) Len Swormstedt --> '06 Boston Americans --> Chet Chadbourne, Heinie Wagner

II) Chadbourne --> '18 Boston Braves
II) Wagner --> '18 Red Sox

All roads lead to Boston. Red Sox first...

II) Wagner --> '18 Red Sox --> Babe Ruth, Sad Sam Jones

Sad Sam is connected. He's out. It seems fitting that the 1918 Red Sox would be represented by the Babe.

      III) Ruth --> '35 Boston Braves

There's another connected team. Next up is the '18 Braves...

II) Chadbourne --> '18 Boston Braves --> Rabbit Maranville

like Ruth, Maranville ended his Hall of Fame career with the '35 Boston Braves. I'm done.

Degrees of Matt Stairs: Over 6

Is This The End?

It was such a minor transaction it barely registered on the major sports sites. The Washington Nationals acquired Johnny Gomes from the Cincinati Reds. A roster move had to be made.

On Wednesday, the Nationals designated Matt Stairs for assignment.

Our muse may have played his last game in Major League Baseball. While it's definitely possibly some other team may have need of his pinch hitting skills, his age and lack of production do not tip the scales in his favor. I hope he keeps playing.

So what's to become of this blog? Obviously, I'll finish out the season. I may continue through the off-season and into Spring Training, hopeful he gets one more chance. I may continue well beyond. I may get bored and decide to pursue other interests. In the meantime, if this is it, thank you Mr. Stairs. You'll always have at least one fan.