Editing Matt Stairs (section)

===Oakland Athletics===
Stairs had the best years of his career playing for the Athletics. He was called up from Triple-A [[Edmonton Trappers|Edmonton]] after compiling a .344 average with eight home runs and 41 RBI over the first 51 games in the [[International League]].<ref name=":0"/> He played mostly in right field and as a [[designated hitter]], alongside superstars [[Rickey Henderson]], [[Mark McGwire]], and [[Jose Canseco]], throughout his tenure in Oakland.

In his July 5, 1996, debut with Oakland, Stairs tied a major league record with six runs batted in during one inning. That first inning performance included a [[grand slam (baseball)|grand slam]] and a two-run single<ref>{{Cite news|last=|first=|date=July 6, 1996|title=BASEBALL;Matt Stairs and A's Have a Huge First|language=en-US|work=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/07/06/sports/baseball-matt-stairs-and-a-s-have-a-huge-first.html|access-date=June 17, 2013|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> (subsequently broken by [[Fernando Tatís]] in 1999). In 1999, he finished 17th in the [[American League]] in the [[Most valuable player|MVP]] race with a .258 batting average, 38 home runs and 102 RBI in 146 games.<ref name=":1" />

After five seasons with the Athletics, during which he hit 122 home runs and drove in 315 RBI, he was traded on November 20, 2000, to the [[Chicago Cubs]] for minor league pitcher Eric Ireland.<ref>{{Cite news|last=|first=|date=November 21, 2000|title=PLUS: BASEBALL; A's Trade Stairs For Minor Leaguer|language=en-US|work=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/11/21/sports/plus-baseball-a-s-trade-stairs-for-minor-leaguer.html|access-date=January 6, 2022|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> The trade was largely seen as a cost-cutting move by the cash-strapped Athletics—Stairs was set to earn $3.2 million for the 2001 season, and his production had dropped in 2000, hitting just .227 with 21 home runs and 81 RBI.<ref name=":1" />