Following his big boy blast in Game 4 of the NLCS against the Dodgers, Matt Stairs has become somewhat of a folk hero in the Philadelphia area. Normally, when a player thwacks a career-defining home run like that, he might stay around the area for a little while and bask in his newfound celebrity.

But that ain’t how Matt Stairs rolls.

The journeyman “professional hitter” is back in Bangor, Maine — his offseason resting place — to resume hockey coaching duties for Bangor’s John Bapst Memorial High School. Being that there couldn’t possibly be more important news in Bangor than the mere presence of Matt Stairs, the town’s Daily News caught up with the Asst. Coach to talk some Phillies. He called Philadelphia “very supportive” and the Phillies “very professional.” Here are some other words he put together in sentence-form so that the author of the story could write a coherent article:

On the World Series victory:

“It was a blast. All those morning practices, staying late and doing all that extra hitting paid off after 20 years. To finally get a ring, it’s a great honor.”

On the Phillies:

“They go about their business the right way. There’s no horseplay once the game starts. I’ve never seen guys get to the ballpark so early to prepare for games.”

On the Philly fans:

“They were hungry for a championship. I came at a good time. We won something like 25 of our last 31 games, whatever it was, when you went to the ballpark, there was electricity. They were waving those white towels.

If you don’t play well, they’ll be tough on you. It’s one of those things. But we played well at the right time, we never lost a game at home in the playoffs. Even if you’re tired, when you get in that batter’s box, you felt a surge of energy.”

On coaching hockey:

“Coaching is fun, you get back the first couple of days, everyone asks you questions about how it was, what’s going on and what’s this guy like.

But the good thing about it is when I get here, everyone treats me just like a regular coach. The biggest thing is I’ve been around so long and I’ve played the game for so long, what I try to teach the kids as a positive role model is if you have a dream, anything is possible.”

On the feeling after hitting that Game 4 homer:

“When you get that nice celebration coming into the dugout and you’re getting your ass hammered by guys — there’s no better feeling than to have that done.”

Oh nevermind. That was from a month-and-a-half ago.

World title changes Stairs’ life | Bangor Daily News
Photo credit: John Clarke Russ/Bangor Daily News

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