Matt Stairs turns 56 years old today. You already know that Matt is a nice Canadian boy. He spent two seasons as a player with the Blue Jays before joining the Expos in 1992 to begin his main – career.
The first of his two years with the Jays was excellent. .289/.373/.549, with 21 home runs and 64 RBI. Though he was signed by the Jays with the intention of using him as a bench player, he played first base, left and right field, and a little bit of DH in 125 games.
He wasn’t as effective in his second season, despite playing more, particularly after Frank Thomas was released by the Jays. Towards the end of the season, we traded him for Fabio Castro to the Phillies. Castro didn’t ever represent us in games.
In terms of games played and home runs, Matt ranks third among baseball players from Canada (Joey Votto overtook him in the latter category last year).
Since I first saw Stairs in Toronto many years ago, when Matt was a member of the Oakland A’s, I’ve always thought highly of him. Matt was in front of us, warming up between innings by tossing balls to a ball boy. In order for the teenager’s throws to go straight rather than tail, he demonstrated to him how to throw properly—straight over the top as opposed to 3/4. That a major league player would take the time to provide a little knowledge during a game pleased me.
Matt, happy birthday. I’m hoping it turns out well.
Cliff Politte also has a birthday today. Today is his 50th birthday.
Cliff played nine years in Major League Baseball as a right-handed reliever. After dealing Dan Plesac to the Phillies in order to get him early in 2002, he played for the Blue Jays for two seasons.
Pitching in 109 games, he recorded a 4.56 ERA in his two seasons with the Jays.
He started 16 games out of 330 total appearances. His ERA was 4.40. record of 22–23 with 15 saves.
Cliff, happy birthday.
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