Tuesday Trivia

Entering today’s games, 23,193 players appear in at least one game in the major leagues since 1871.

Which brings us to today’s edition of Tuesday Trivia.

Of those 23,193 players over the last 153 years, only one can make the claim of playing for all four 1969 expansion franchises from Montreal, San Diego, Kansas City and Seattle.

And the twist here is that this player needs until 2010 to achieve the feat – 41 years after the four new franchises join Major League Baseball.

And that player is …

We’ll wait while you take a moment to ponder the answer.

And wait.

And wait some more until you come up with the name of …

Longtime hitter-for-hire Matt Stairs, whose career in the majors runs from 1992 to 2011. During that time, Stairs plays for all four of the 1969 expansion franchises with “franchises” being the operative word here.

First, Stairs plays for the Montreal Expos in 1992 and ’93.

He later plays in 2002 with the Milwaukee Brewers, born in 1969 as the expansion Seattle Pilots before the franchise relocates in 1970 to Milwaukee.

Eventually, Stairs plays for the Kansas City Royals from 2004-06 and, finally, with the San Diego Padres in 2010.

And, just because he can, Stairs finishes his career in 2011 with the Washington Nationals, who are the Montreal Expos from 1969-2004 before moving to D.C. prior to the ’05 season.

In all, Stairs plays for 13 teams, a major league record for one player. He also launches 23 home runs as a pinch-hitter, another major league record for one player.