OTTAWA – National Teams alumnus Matt Stairs will play at least one more season as he signed a minor league deal with the San Diego Padres on Saturday.
The Fredericton, New Brunswick native, who turns 42 in February, is expected to be used primarily as a pinch hitter for the Padres, a role he played with the Philadelphia Phillies last season when he hit .194 with five home runs and 17 RBI in 103 at-bats.
Stairs helped the Phillies win the World Series in 2008, hitting a key pinch-hit home run in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Stairs broke into the Major Leagues with the Montreal Expos in 1992 and has played 17 seasons with the Expos, Boston Red Sox, Oakland Athletics, Chicago Cubs, Milwaukee Brewers, Pittsburgh Pirates, Kansas City Royals, Texas Rangers, Detroit Tigers, Toronto Blue Jays and the Phillies.
The slugger’s career marks of 259 home runs, 287 doubles, 5,040 at-bats and 1,761 games rank him second all-time among Canadian Major Leaguers behind only Larry Walker.
Stairs was a member of Team Canada for the 2006 World Baseball Classic and was once again on the roster for the 2009 edition of the tournament. He was also a part of Team Canada at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, Korea.
