Talk:Chris Stynes

Ideas for improving the article

Here are some ideas for improving the article:

1. Find sources for the uncited information. I usually start with books, and there are plenty of sources here: google book search. And, this is a tool to format the url link for a google book into a citation: http://reftag.appspot.com/
2. Add content, such as his family background, such as pertinent information about his childhood: when he became interested in baseball, his parents, where he grew up... and personal information such as marriages or significant partners. I didn't find anything in books, but found some things on WP:Reliable sources web sites... and then formatted the url saved in the article into a citation using Reflinks from a <ref> -- bare url -- </ref>.
   • To get personal life information, I use a google (or other browser) query such as: Chris Stynes Florida - Chris Stynes Queens - Chris Stynes Florida Atlantic - etc. to hopefully tease out a newspaper article or another source of biographical information.
   • See also Sports Illustrated articles about Chris Stynes: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/search/?text=%22chris+stynes%22&x=39&y=6
3. Focus on notable content. For instance, I'm not sure that the eye injury during a game is notable, unless it prevented him from working for a period of time or if there is something else that makes it notable. With the fibula, too, it would be good to know the repercussions - how long was he off the field?, for instance.--CaroleHenson (talk) 15:46, 4 March 2014 (UTC)
4. And, what has he been doing since 2004?--CaroleHenson (talk) 16:08, 4 March 2014 (UTC)

Carole Henson: I've removed the unsourced claims for now and made the language a bit less awkward. Just leaving this message here to let you know that I'm not finished and will likely make more changes once I've had the time to research the claims. Dozzzzzzzzzing off (talk) 22:23, 9 March 2014 (UTC)

Sounds good. I found a source for the Smokies.--CaroleHenson (talk) 00:27, 10 March 2014 (UTC)

That's good. On a related note, is baseball-reference.com considered a reliable source? I'm pretty sure I've seen it cited a number of times, and I believe it would probably have every minor-league team a guy played for. (In addition to the MLB teams, of course.) Dozzzzzzzzzing off (talk) 01:27, 10 March 2014 (UTC)

It seems to be a reliable source based upon the discussion at this discussion, which states " the website has been cited as "a powerhouse in the baseball information world" by this Sports Illustrated article.--CaroleHenson (talk) 03:20, 10 March 2014 (UTC)

GCL Blue Jays

I just got kind of overwhelmed with other stuff in my life and took a WikiBreak.

Now, I do have a question. Per http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=stynes001chr, Stynes played for the GCL Blue Jays in 1991, but the Wikipedia article on that team says that it began play in 2007. I'm not really that familiar with teams below AA-level, so I'm now a bit confused. Carole, would you be able to elucidate the situation a bit? Thanks. Dozzzzzzzzzing off (talk) 15:28, 2 April 2014 (UTC)

Hi DZ,

Glad to hear from you again... and that you take WikiBreaks when needed,

From the citation from the GCL Blue Jays: "The Blue Jays pulled out of the Appalachian League at the conclusion of the 2006 season, citing a desire to reduce their number of minor league affiliates. But talks heated up with the GCL at the Winter Meetings in Orlando and, farm director Dick Scott said, the team decided to add a Rookie-level team after a busy offseason of signings under new director of Latin American operations Marco Paddy."

So, it would seem that it would be correct to say that Stynes was with the GCL Blue Jays beginning in 2007, when the Blue Jays switched leagues... and with the Toronto Blue Jays beginning in 1991. See 1991 Toronto Blue Jays season.

I hope that helps.--CaroleHenson (talk) 04:24, 3 April 2014 (UTC)

Sort of. The thing is, though, I wouldn't think B-R would retroactively change the team's name. It says Stynes played for them in 1991, and it locates them in the Gulf Coast League. This makes me wonder whether our article on the club might be missing some information. Furthermore, Stynes made his MLB debut in 1995; never played for the Blue Jays at the Major League level; never played a Major League game after 2004; was apparently never on a roster after 2005; and never played a game in the minors after 2001. There's no way they would've had a 34-year-old (his age in 2007) playing on a rookie-league team. Something must be a bit off in the GCL Blue Jays article regarding the team's history, or else there have been two rookie-league squads with that name. Dozzzzzzzzzing off (talk) 17:14, 3 April 2014 (UTC)

I would definitely agree from what you say that there are some updates that need to be made to the WP articles -- and the best thing to do is get some more references to help sort this out. And, I misunderstood the issue... The more I research the more confusing this seems to get.

• Regarding the Blue Jays, there are several sources that say that he was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 1991 MLB June Amateur Draft including this Baseball Reference page and The Baseball Almanac, and then traded to the Kansas City Royals in 1995, per Baseball Reference
• And, I now see the tie between the Toronto Blue Jays and the Gulf Coast League here Minors team info supports your point that the Gulf Coast League was affiliated with the Toronto Blue Jays.
• This page shows the Blue Jays in the Gulf Coast League / Northwest and this shows them located in Dunedin, FL
• There are 2 Blue Jays minor league teams in Dunedin, both affliated with the Toronto Blue Jays. According to the Gulf Coast League article, the Dunedin Blue Jays, three levels up from the GCL Blue Jays.
• The Dunedin Blue Jays were founded in 1987 and is with the Florida State League.
• This article and this article says Styne was selected for the Major league amateur draft for the Southern League in 1991.
• This 1993 baseball card shows him with the Dunedin Blue Jays, which would be the Florida State League. Another image of a 1993 card and this 1994 card with a clearer baseball cap with "S".
• This site says he was with:
  • GCL Blue Jays 1991
  • Myrtle Beach 1992
  • Dunedin 1993
  • Knoxville 1994
• Which is supported somewhat by this Boca Raton article that said he worked his way up the minors.

So, all of this might net-net that he was first with the GCL Blue Jays... so now need a source to show that the GCL Blue Jays were in existence in 1991...

• The chart on List of Toronto Blue Jays minor league affiliates shows GCL was an affiliate in 1991 for the Rookie league... and appears to have started in 1981... and shows the changes to and from the Pulaski Blue Jays in 2003 and 2007. Unfortunately no citation. I posted a message at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Baseball/Archive 37#Minor League: GCL Blue Jays and Pulaski Blue Jays--CaroleHenson (talk) 21:22, 3 April 2014 (UTC)

@Dozzzzzzzzzing off: Are you interested in updating the article with the clarification form the WikiProject Sports talk page... and references above? I've updated the GCL Blue Jays article to clarity the years when the GCL had a Blue Jays team.--CaroleHenson (talk) 00:48, 4 April 2014 (UTC)

@Carole Henson: I would absolutely be interested in updating the article. Probably sometime this weekend. That is kinda weird that they stopped fielding a team at that level and then started again, isn't it? Dozzzzzzzzzing off (talk) 01:04, 4 April 2014 (UTC)

@Dozzzzzzzzzing off: I thought so... it was pretty confusing for me (as you can likely tell from my comments) for awhile.--CaroleHenson (talk) 01:14, 4 April 2014 (UTC)