Today In Brewer History: Happy Birthday, Matt Stairs

On this day in 1968 Matt Stairs was born in St. John, New Brunswick, Canada. He signed with the Expos as an amateur free agent just before his 21st birthday in 1989 and three years later he was a big leaguer for the first time in 1992.

Stairs had played for the Expos, Red Sox, A's (the longest stop of his career) and Cubs when the Brewers signed him as a free agent before the 2002 season. He appeared in 107 games for the Crew that year and hit .244/.349/.478 with 16 home runs before again becoming a free agent.

After leaving Milwaukee Stairs was a member of the 2003 Pirates, 2004-06 Royals, 2006 Rangers, 2006 Tigers, 2007-08 Blue Jays, 2008-09 Phillies and 2010 Padres before finishing off his career with his original franchise, who by then had become the Washington Nationals.

All told Stairs appeared in 1895 major league games as a member of 12 franchises, hitting 265 career home runs. He was a part of four playoff teams, including the 2008 World Champion Phillies.

Thanks to the B-Ref Play Index for reminding me that Stairs turns 45 today. Today is also Yovani Gallardo's 27th birthday. We covered that in this space last year.