My mind works in strange ways… or as some would say, not at all. Tomato, tomahto.
I was thinking about Raul Ibanez a while back and marveling at his late-career surge. On a totally unrelated note, I noticed the other day that Gary Sheffield is putting up some nice numbers (.283/.427/.505) for the Mets this season. That’s pretty good for a 40-year-old, and I speak from experience, being one myself.
A 40-year-old, that is; not a good hitter. Just to be crystal clear.
Then I got to wondering about other guys in their forties this year. Jamie Moyer just notched his 250th career win, while Randy Johnson is knocking on the door of #300.
Great stories, both, but not what caught my eye. I’m more interested in Matt Stairs. Have you seen what he’s doing for the Phillies? It’s a microscopic sample size, but the guy is hitting .281/.465/.594.
Look, anything can happen in 43 plate appearances, but here’s the thing. Stairs has been a good hitter for a very long time. He owns a career .266/.359/.484 line, with 257 home runs.
Stairs didn’t see material playing time at the big-league level until he was 29. That year he hit .298/.386/.582, with 27 homers in 410 trips to the plate. This was the first of three straight productive seasons for Stairs:
He tailed off a bit after that and saw his plaing time reduced… and then settled in as a solid part-time player for several years. Stairs never saw 500 plate appearances after his age 32 season, but neither did he dip below 315 until… well, presumably he won’t reach that in ‘09.
Just two years ago, Stairs hit .289/.368/.549 in 405 plate appearances for Toronto. That’s not shabby for a 39-year-old. Or for a hitter of any age.
Why do I care about any of this? Two reasons. First, I get a kick out of players whose careers defy expectation — like an Ibanez or a Stairs (or a Moyer, for that matter).
Second, Stairs is the kind of player who will be forgotten in 20 years but shouldn’t be. He’ll be like, I don’t know, George Hendrick. That’s not a great example because Stairs and Hendrick had different skill sets, but I’m looking for guys who weren’t stars but who played good baseball for an extended period of time before fading into relative obscurity.
If you’re my age or older, there’s a good chance you remember Hendrick. If you have even a passing interest in the history of baseball, you may know who he is. But a lot of people have no idea who Hendrick was or that he was a pretty good hitter.
Stairs could end up in that same category, which would be a shame. So we talk about him now and hope that people appreciate what he’s done (and what he’s still doing).
Then maybe one day you’ll be watching a game with your kids and see someone come to the plate who has put together a quietly productive career. And maybe you’ll say to them, “You know, this guy is a pretty good hitter. Kind of like Matt Stairs.” And maybe they’ll ask you who Matt Stairs was. And maybe you’ll tell them.
Phillies (and Dodgers!) fans know that Stairs was acquired by the Phils at the end of last August. He then proceeded to hit a bomb that still hasn't landed in the RF seats in LA during the NLCS. You can forget that part about not being remembered... he'll never have to pay for a beer in Philly for the rest of his life.
I was an intern with the New Britain Red Sox back in 1994 and Stairs played on that team. He was without a doubt my favorite player as he was simply the most down to earth guy on the team. After games he would hang out in the offices with a beer and chat with everyone.....just a great guy and has been overlooked for his quiet production every year. Professional hitter - Matty Stairs.
I'd say just a hitter, definitely not a "professional hitter". When was the last time you heard a guy called a "professional hitter" and saw a batting line that didn't make you wonder why he was taking up a roster space? Isn't professional hitter the euphamism for "he used to be a good ballplayer." Matt Stairs is still a good ball player.
Yeah he will not be forgotten in Philly because of that monstrous pinch hit blast in their comeback against the Dodgers. It's really not uncommon to hear people mention instances from the '80 Championship team, which is what assures me that no one will forget the guy here.
I enjoy stories like this regardless of the team. Of course he fact that it involves a Phillie helps, but in general these are usually eye openers. It's kind of like looking through the stats before the start of the upcoming season and wondering how in the world Peralta had that many RBIs.
You know who I think of when I think "quietly productive"? I know you'll remember him because he was briefly a Padre, which is how I remember him, as an 8-year old Padre fan back in '82.
Yeah, Lezcano was a quality hitter for a very short time. His '82 was fantastic, and his '79 (.321/.414/.573, 28 HR for Milwaukee at age 25) was even better. I love guys like that.
I love the concept of the "poor man's [star player]," and Stairs exemplifies it: he is the poor man's Mark McGwire. He's also the author of the best baseball quote of 2008: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqZDe4364BI
Funny you should bring up McGwire. As a teenager in the mid to late 90's, Mark McGwire was my favorite baseball player. I also felt that Stairs was like the poor man's McGwire, so I always kind of liked him. When my favorite team, the Pirates, acquired Stairs in the 02-03 offseason, I was pretty excited about the acquisition. My college roommate at the time made fun of me for thinking that Stairs would have any positive impact at all, and it turns out that he had quite the season once he was finally allowed to play. Since then Stairs has been involved in a lot of hyperbole in the back and forth between my friend and me; I of course insist that Matt Stairs is the greatest hitter ever and my friend insists that he has no value at all as a player.
I especially love to point out that Stairs owns more career home runs and a higher career OPS than the legendary Roberto Clemente...I bet even Matt himself would be surprised to find that out...
A slight clarification - upon looking at Lezcano's numbers on B-R, I realize that his career basically ended at age 30. So the comparison isn't quite apt, but he was still quietly very productive for 10 years or so.
For obvious reasons, he's pretty well-known up here in Canada. Even before and after he played for the Blue Jays, the sports networks would often mention him in recaps and what not if he did something noteworthy.
According to B-Ref, the most similar player to Stairs is Hank Sauer, whose career didn't really get started until his 30s due to WW II. Seems like Sauer falls into the same general category of productive players who are now largely forgotten, although Sauer did manage to make 2 all-star teams and win an MVP award (albeit with relatively unimpressive numbers).
My buddies and I used to play the game by these rules: "What's the best team you could put together using players who aren't in the Hall of Fame, and shouldn't be?"
Ken Caminiti, Bill Dahlen, George Van Haltren, Omar Vizquel, and lets throw in Dom Dimaggio. If he hadn't missed three years of his prime because of WWII, he'd have finished with 2200 hits to go with his 290/380/420 career line and great defense. Not a HOFer, shouldn't be, but very very good nonetheless.
On looking at that list, it still stuns me that Belle hasn't gotten any support for the Hall - yes, his career was painfully short, yes, he was a giant pain in the butt, but, my God, the man's offensive numbers are simply staggering.
He was better player than Jim Rice every day of the week and twice on Sunday.
Just as a comparison: Jim Rice and Albert Belle had the same number of home runs. But Rice batted 3000 more times than Belle.
I don't believe that a bad HOF selection should be the basis for future HOF selections, but Rice is just so average, has so many comparables, that there's no way to elect him without opening a up a huge list of, "If Rice, then why not..." starting with Belle, Murphy, Mattingly, and Joe Carter.
When I think of Matt Stairs and I see the lines he put up from 1997-1999 above, I think of how much harder it seems to be for Billy Beane to scare up these types of players nowadays than he did in the late '90's. While Jack Cust is a nice player and had one flukishly great offensive year, one of these things is not like the other.
The Phillies used to get a lot of guys like this. Veterans who could really hit some. Jay Johnstone was one of my favorites. He had four really solid years for the Phils who picked him up for pretty much nothing. Johnstone had that crazy bad year with the Sox in '72 (.188 BA). But he really hit well for the Phils and then lasted until he was 39. He also had that LCS when he went 7 for 9.
Bill James Places Stairs in the "Hall of Could Have Been..."
"Look at it. Somebody decided he was a second baseman, he tears through the minor leagues, gets to Montreal, the Expos take one look at him and say, 'He's no second baseman, get real.' He bounces around, goes to Japan, doesn't really get to play until he's almost 30, then hits 38 homers, slips into a part-time role and hits 15-20 homers every year for 10 years in about 250 at-bats a season. ... You put him in the right park, right position early in his career ... he's going to hit a LOT of bombs."
Matt Stairs spent his age 24 and 25 seasons slugging about 0.420 for AAA. He didn't really put anything together until the following year, after a trip to Japan, change of organizations, and a trip back to AA. This is a guy who has 69 homers in 2767 minor at bats. his career arc suddenly reminds me of two other Phils- Utley and Howard, HOF talents who took just a bit too long putting things together, or were otherwise condemned to MiLB drudgery.
Silent George Hendrick. He was great for the Cardinals. He was the original "manny being manny". He would go sit on the bullpen bench during pitching changes to conserve energy and didn't have much to say to he press.
George always looked like he wanted to be anywhere but on a ballfield but he had a great arm and he was a smart hitter. He'd go up in the first inning with nobody on and two outs and wave at three curve balls over the outside corner. In a later inning with RISP, the pitcher would throw a curve on the outside corner and George would plate two with a shot to right center.
The thing I remember about Hendrick, beside the fact that he was the first player I remember wearing his pants down to his spikes, is his quote about warming up. I forget the exact quote, but he was asked about not warming up that much before a game and he said that a Cadillac didn't need to be warmed up.
"Gary Sheffield is putting up some nice numbers (.283/.427/.505) for the Mets this season. That’s pretty good for a 40-year-old, and I speak from experience, being one myself.
A 40-year-old, that is; not a good hitter. Just to be crystal clear."
Are you implying a .932 OPS does not qualify one as a good hitter? Please clarify
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Ibanez and Sheffield, just like Stairs, moved from the AL to the NL over the offseason. Maybe the NL is still the weaker league?
Phillies (and Dodgers!) fans know that Stairs was acquired by the Phils at the end of last August. He then proceeded to hit a bomb that still hasn't landed in the RF seats in LA during the NLCS. You can forget that part about not being remembered... he'll never have to pay for a beer in Philly for the rest of his life.
My bad, I should have said "recently" instead of "the offseason". I definitely remember Stairs's home run.