This MLB puzzle ran on Oct 22, 2026. The task was to connect Joey Votto to Charlie Blackmon with a chain of real players. The objective: “Your chain must include a player with 2,000+ career hits.” Par was 3 links. A search of the full player pool found a shortest chain of 2 links.
Joey Votto (1B) played in the MLB from 2007 to 2023. A one-team career, spent with the Reds (2007 to 2023). Honors in the dataset: MVP. 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.
Charlie Blackmon (OF) played in the MLB from 2011 to 2024. A one-team career, spent with the Rockies (2011 to 2024). 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.
Joey Votto and Charlie Blackmon 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, 187 satisfy it. The best known are Hank Aaron (OF, 1954 to 1976), Ken Griffey Jr. (OF, 1989 to 2010), Rickey Henderson (OF, 1979 to 2003), Reggie Jackson (OF, 1967 to 1987), Willie Mays (OF, 1951 to 1973), and Derek Jeter (SS, 1995 to 2014).
23 of those players share a team or college with Joey Votto, and 12 share one with Charlie Blackmon. The Finish is the tighter side, so it often pays to work backward from Charlie Blackmon.
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.