After almost 20 years, the Matt Stairs World Tour is finally coming to its close. After stints in Montreal, Boston, Oakland, Chicago, Milwaukee, Pittsburgh, Kansas City, Texas, Detroit, Toronto, Philadelphia, San Diego and, most recently, Washington, the 43-year-old Stairs is calling it quits.
First reported in Canada by CBC News, the announcement comes a few days after Stairs was released by the Nationals. He signed on to be a pinch-hitter for the club this season, but struggled to the tune of a .154/.257/.169 line in 74 plate appearances this season before his departure from the team. 2011 was Stairs' first season with a wOBA under .320 or an OPS under .725 since a 39-game stint with the Red Sox in 1996.
Stairs finishes his career with 265 home runs, 899 RBI and a .262/.356/.477 line in 1895 games. His career WAR total sits at just 14.3, though, because Stairs was a poor base-runner and defensive player during essentially his entire career. His peak fits nicely with the offensive boom of the 1990's; from 1997 to 1999, Stairs posted a .282/.373/.537 line with 91 home runs in 1626 plate appearances, good for a .388 wOBA but only 6.3 WAR due to usual poor defensive efforts.