This MLB puzzle ran on Oct 18, 2026. The task was to connect Frank Viola to Craig Stammen with a chain of real players. The objective: “Your chain must include a player with 250+ career wins.” Par was 3 links.
Frank Viola (SP) played in the MLB from 1982 to 1996. Career stops: the Twins (1982 to 1989), the Mets (1989 to 1991), the Red Sox (1992 to 1994), the Reds (1995), and the Blue Jays (1996). Honors in the dataset: Cy Young. As the Start of the chain, a household name like this gives you a lot of teammates to branch from, which makes it a friendly place to begin.
Craig Stammen (RP) played in the MLB from 2009 to 2022. Career stops: the Nationals (2009 to 2015) and the Padres (2017 to 2022). As the Finish of the chain, a household name like this gives you a lot of teammates to branch from, which makes it a friendly place to begin.
Frank Viola and Craig Stammen do not share a team or a college, so there is no direct link. You need at least one connector in between, and the objective decides which ones are allowed to count.
This was a stat milestone objective. At least one player in the chain has to have cleared the career or season mark named in the objective. Of the 11,807 players in the pool, 22 satisfy it. The best known are Greg Maddux (SP, 1986 to 2008), Steve Carlton (SP, 1965 to 1988), Tom Seaver (SP, 1967 to 1986), Tom Glavine (SP, 1987 to 2008), Randy Johnson (SP, 1988 to 2009), and Gaylord Perry (SP, 1962 to 1983).
12 of those players share a team or college with Frank Viola, and 3 share one with Craig Stammen. The Finish is the tighter side, so it often pays to work backward from Craig Stammen.
One shortest chain found by searching the full player pool, preferring the best known names at every step:
Many other chains work. Scoring rewards lower-profile connectors, so the best-known route is rarely the highest scoring one.
Want more? Browse the full MLB puzzle archive, read the strategy guides, or see how scoring works on How to Play.