If you were wondering, Padres hitting coach Matt Stairs can totally still crush the baseball
When Matt Stairs was a member of the A's, his "grip it and rip it" style of play and his penchant for slugging homers (he tallied 122 in five seasons from 1996-2000), inspired some fans in the right-field bleachers to put up a sign that read, simply, "Hit it up Stairs, Matt!"
He took that kind of all-or-nothing style everywhere he went, which included a stint with the Phillies that spawned a moment etched in lore for Phillies fans everywhere. Now, at age 50, Stairs roams the Padres dugout as the team's hitting instructor.
"Surely," you might be thinking to yourself, "There's no way he can still hit the ball like that. He hasn't played in seven years, there's just no way --"
Hitting Coach Matt Stairs getting us started at #PadresST today.
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) March 6, 2018
One swing is all he needed. 💪 pic.twitter.com/PgUIEeumeF
Oh. OH. He can, and he did, after shouting "I've only got one swing, brother!" and stepping into the box, then making that swing count before San Diego's Spring Training game with the Royals on Tuesday night.
That's how legends are made.
