... in Canada.
The Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame announced yesterday their three new inductees for 2015. One of them is former Friar Matt Stairs, who holds the distinction of playing for more MLB teams (13) than any other position player in MLB history. One season of his 19-year MLB career was spent in in San Diego.
Stairs was part of that weirdly successful, then heartbreaking, 2010 Padres team. He appeared in 78 games, 17 of which had him in the starting lineup. The Padres signed him to a minor league contract in January of that year and gave him an invitation to Spring Training, where he'd hoped to make his way onto the 25-man roster. He did just that and made his first pinch-hit appearance of the season on Opening Day (April 5th), but failed to get on base. He spent a few weeks on the DL in June, but was back at it in the beginning of July. Then on August 21st, he hit his 21st pinch-hit home run, driving in two for the Padres (who would end up losing the game). But it gave him the lead over Cliff Johnson for most pinch-hit homers in MLB history.
After the end of the 2010 season while we were all mourning what could've been, Matt Stairs and the Padres parted ways. He played for the Nationals in 2011, mostly as a pinch-hitter with a few starts at first base. He was DFA in July of that year, released in August 1st, and then announced his retirement on August 3rd. But he's stayed in baseball since then, working as a studio analyst for the Red Sox before taking his current broadcasting job with the Phillies.
Thanks for all the support. Truly an honour to be inducted into the Canadian baseball Hall Of Fame
— mstairs12 (@mstairs12) February 4, 2015