Chris Stynes

{{Infobox baseball biography

| name =Chris Stynes

| image =

| caption =

| position =Third baseman / Second baseman / Left fielder

| birth_date ={{Birth date and age|1973|1|19}}

| birth_place =Queens, New York, U.S.

| death_date =

| bats =Right

| throws =Right

|debutleague = MLB

| debutdate =May 19

| debutyear =1995

| debutteam =Kansas City Royals

|finalleague = MLB

| finaldate =July 30

| finalyear =2004

| finalteam =Pittsburgh Pirates

|statleague = MLB

| stat1label =Batting average

| stat1value =.275

| stat2label =Home runs

| stat2value =51

| stat3label =Runs batted in

| stat3value =265

| teams =

Kansas City Royals ({{Baseball year|1995}}–{{Baseball year|1996}})
Cincinnati Reds ({{Baseball year|1997}}–{{Baseball year|2000}})
Boston Red Sox ({{Baseball year|2001}})
Chicago Cubs ({{Baseball year|2002}})
Colorado Rockies ({{Baseball year|2003}})
Pittsburgh Pirates ({{Baseball year|2004}})

| highlights =

}}

Christopher Desmond Stynes (born January 19, 1973) is an American former Major League Baseball utility player.Pete Palmer; Gary Gillette; Stuart Shea. [https://books.google.com/books?id=eUe37F9gN00C&pg=PT680 The ESPN Baseball Encyclopedia]. Sterling Publishing Company; 1 February 2006. {{ISBN|978-1-4027-3625-4}}. p. 680.

Early life

Christopher Desmond Stynes was born in Queens, New York, and attended Boca Raton Community High School in Florida.{{cite web |date= |title=Chris Stynes Trades and Transactions |url=http://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/trades.php?p=stynech01 |access-date=2014-03-04 |website=Baseball Almanac}} He attended Florida Atlantic University.{{cite web |date=1995-05-19 |title=Chris Stynes Stats |url=https://www.espn.com/mlb/player/stats/_/id/3234/chris-stynes |access-date=2014-03-04 |website=ESPN}}

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.{{cite magazine |last=Bechtel |first=Mark |date=4 May 1998 |title=Spotlight: Getting His Irish Up: Leftfielder Chris Stynes has become the Reds' red-hot spark plug |url=https://vault.si.com/vault/1998/05/04/getting-his-irish-up-leftfielder-chris-stynes-has-become-the-reds-red-hot-spark-plug |access-date=2014-03-04 |magazine=Sports Illustrated |quote=his grandfather, Joe Stynes, played Irish Rules football}}

Career

Among the Minor League Baseball teams that he played for was the Knoxville Smokies.{{Cite web |last=Patton |first=Robes |date=1994-07-24 |title=Halfway There |url=https://www.sun-sentinel.com/1994/07/24/halfway-there/ |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20250121084301/https://www.sun-sentinel.com/1994/07/24/halfway-there/ |archive-date=2025-01-21 |access-date=2025-01-21 |website=South Florida Sun-Sentinel}}{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=stynes001chr |title=Chris Stynes Minor League Statistics & History |website=Baseball-Reference.com |date=1973-01-19 |access-date=2014-04-04}}

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

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, {{mlby|1996}}, during an 8–5 win against the Seattle Mariners.{{cite web |title=Retrosheet Boxscore Seattle Mariners 8, Kansas City Royals 5 |url=http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1996/B05120SEA1996.htm |access-date=2008-05-27 |website=Retrosheet}}

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.{{cite web |last1=Zahn |first1=Matt |date=3 April 2021 |title=White Sox' Yermín Mercedes Becomes First Player Since 1900 To Start Season With 8 Straight Hits |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/yermin-mercedes-white-sox-start-season-eight-hits/ |access-date=2025-01-21 |website=CBS Chicago |agency=Associated Press}}

Stynes missed nearly a month of play during the 2001 season{{cite web |date=2002-01-01 |title=Cubs Sign Infielder Chris Stynes |url=https://www.mrt.com/news/article/Cubs-Sign-Infielder-Chris-Stynes-7737624.php |access-date=15 April 2021 |website=MRT}} after a pitch from Aaron Sele hit Stynes in the cheek, breaking the cheekbone in two places.{{cite web |last1=Hickey |first1=John |title=Mariners Notebook: Both teams concerned after Stynes hit by pitch |url=https://www.seattlepi.com/sports/baseball/article/Mariners-Notebook-Both-teams-concerned-after-1054305.php |website=Seattle PI |date=10 May 2001 |access-date=15 April 2021}}