Chris Stynes
American baseball player (born 1973)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Christopher Desmond Stynes (born January 19, 1973) is an American former Major League Baseball utility player.[1]
| Chris Stynes | |
|---|---|
| Third baseman / Second baseman / Left fielder | |
| Born: January 19, 1973 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 runs | 51 |
| Runs batted in | 265 |
| Stats at Baseball Reference | |
| Teams | |
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.[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]