Chris Stynes

Chris Stynes
Third baseman / Second baseman / Left fielder
Born: (1973-01-19) January 19, 1973 (age 51)
Queens, New York, U.S.
Batted: Right
Threw: Right
MLB debut
May 19, 1995, for the Kansas City Royals
Last MLB appearance
July 30, 2004, for the Pittsburgh Pirates
MLB statistics
Batting average.275
Home runs51
Runs batted in265
Stats at Baseball Reference Edit this at Wikidata
Teams

Christopher Desmond Stynes (born January 19, 1973) is an American former Major League Baseball utility player.[1]

Early life

Christopher Desmond Stynes was born in Queens, New York, and attended Boca Raton Community High School in Florida.[2] He attended Florida Atlantic University.[3]

His grandfather Joe Stynes won the 1923 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship; his cousin Jim Stynes was a legend for the Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League.[4]

Career

Among the Minor League Baseball teams that he played for was the Knoxville Smokies (now the Tennessee Smokies).[5][6]

He played in the majors from 1995 to 2004 for the Kansas City Royals,[1] Cincinnati Reds, Chicago Cubs, Boston Red Sox, Colorado Rockies, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Baltimore Orioles.[1]

Noted for his base-running speed, he managed to steal 3 consecutive bases in a single inning (second, third and then home-plate) while a member of the Kansas City Royals on May 12, 1996, during an 8–5 win against the Seattle Mariners.[7]

In the 1997 season, Stynes had 7 hits in his first 7 at bats, setting an MLB record for most consecutive hits to start a season. The record was broken in 2021 by Yermín Mercedes, who went 8-for-8 to start the 2021 season.[8]

Stynes missed nearly a month of play during the 2001 season[9] after a pitch from Aaron Sele hit Stynes in the cheek, breaking the cheekbone in two places.[10]

References

  1. ^ a b c Pete Palmer; Gary Gillette; Stuart Shea. The ESPN Baseball Encyclopedia. Sterling Publishing Company; 1 February 2006. ISBN 978-1-4027-3625-4. p. 680.
  2. ^ "Chris Stynes Trades and Transactions by Baseball Almanac". Baseball-almanac.com. Retrieved 4 March 2014.
  3. ^ "Chris Stynes Stats - ESPN". Espn.go.com. 19 May 1995. Retrieved 4 March 2014.
  4. ^ Bechtel, Mark (4 May 1998). "Spotlight: Getting His Irish Up: Leftfielder Chris Stynes has become the Reds' red-hot spark plug". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 4 March 2014. his grandfather, Joe Stynes, played Irish Rules football {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  5. ^ Robes Patton. "Halfway There." Sun-Sentinel. July 24, 1994. Retrieved March 9, 2014.
  6. ^ "Chris Stynes Minor League Statistics & History". Baseball-Reference.com. 19 January 1973. Retrieved 4 April 2014.
  7. ^ "Retrosheet Boxscore Seattle Mariners 8, Kansas City Royals 5". Retrosheet. Retrieved 27 May 2008.
  8. ^ Zahn, Matt (3 April 2021). "White Sox' Yermín Mercedes Becomes First Player Since 1900 To Start Season With 8 Straight Hits". CBS Chicago. Retrieved 15 April 2021.
  9. ^ "Cubs Sign Infielder Chris Stynes". MRT. Retrieved 15 April 2021.
  10. ^ Hickey, John (10 May 2001). "Mariners Notebook: Both teams concerned after Stynes hit by pitch". Seattle PI. Retrieved 15 April 2021.