Considering the number of players who have hit triple-digit numbers of home runs as a Fightin' without ever really capturing the hearts of Philly fans--some legitimate stars, even--it's absolutely amazing what a rep Matt Stairs has built for himself in the City of Brother Love on a mere seven career homers in the red and white. Really, with an average now dipped below .200, he hasn't even been a particularly proficient pinch hitter this year. for the Phils. Despite this general lack of total production, though, it was still a red-letter day in Phillies history on August 30th, 2008, when Stairs, having been designated for assignment by the Blue Jays, was traded to the Phils for minor-leaguer Fabio Castro.
The reason for that? He only hit seven home runs, perhaps, but it seems like every single one of was absolutely huge for the Phils. Rally-starters, late-game-winners, perfect-game breaker-uppers...all of tremendous significance, all Stairs. And even now, after he's gone a month and a half without a hit, you still kind of think he's gonna crank one every time he comes up, don't you? You see that big body holding that big bat from its very end, hovering over the plate with one goal in mind, and you get flashbacks to Game 4 of the NLCS, when Stairs put the nail in the Dodgers' coffin with a shot off Jonathan Broxton that seemed like it would never land. He's cold now, maybe, but you can just feel it--at least once more before the end of the year, Stairs will hit a moonshot that will save our season.
Not like Fabio Castro is really lighting up the minors for Toronto, anyway. We'll take it.
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