Jerry Hairston, Jr.

Jerry Hairston, Jr.
Hairston Jr. with Nationals in 2011 Spring Training.
Free agent
Utility player
Born: May 29, 1976 (1976-05-29) (age 35) Des Moines, Iowa
Bats: Right	Throws: Right
MLB debut
September 11, 1998 for the Baltimore Orioles
Career statistics (through 2011)
Batting average	.258
Home runs	64
Runs batted in	372
Hits	1,018
Teams
Baltimore Orioles (1998–2004) Chicago Cubs (2005–2006) Texas Rangers (2006–2007) Cincinnati Reds (2008–2009) New York Yankees (2009) San Diego Padres (2010) Washington Nationals (2011) Milwaukee Brewers (2011)
Career highlights and awards
World Series champion (2009)

Hairston during his tenure with the New York Yankees in 2009.

Jerry Wayne Hairston, Jr. (born May 29, 1976 in Des Moines, Iowa) is a Mexican-American professional baseball utility player.

Professional career

Hairston was drafted in the 11th round of the 1997 Major League Baseball Draft by the Baltimore Orioles, and made his major league debut with the Orioles on September 11, 1998. In his seven seasons with Baltimore, he played in 558 games, batting .261.

He was traded (along with Oriole prospects Mike Fontenot and David Crouthers) to the Chicago Cubs in the 2005 offseason for Sammy Sosa. The Cubs attempted to use Hairston as a leadoff man, but he finished the 2005 season with an unremarkable on-base percentage of .336 and stole only 8 bases in 17 attempts. Even though most Cubs fans initially welcomed the dismissal of Sosa—whose performance was on the decline and was seen as a problematic teammate—the poor play of Hairston would eventually cause many fans to sour on this particular trade.

Hairston's statistics declined further at the start of the 2006 season, and on May 31, Hairston was traded to the Texas Rangers for Phil Nevin. Hairston was released from the Rangers after the 2006 season. On January 5, 2007, the Rangers signed Hairston to a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training. Hairston won a spot on the opening day roster, as a reserve outfielder and utility player. A series of injuries to teammates Hank Blalock, Ian Kinsler, Mark Teixeira, and Frank Catalanotto, as well as the trades of Teixeira and Kenny Lofton, led to Hairston playing on a regular basis throughout the 2007 season. Hairston became a free agent after the season.

On March 3, 2008, Hairston signed a minor league contract with the Cincinnati Reds. On April 21, his contract was purchased by the Reds and was added to the roster. On January 7, 2009, Hairston signed a one-year contract to remain the Cincinnati Reds; the contract contains $2 million dollars in guaranteed money.^[1]

Hairston represented Mexico at the 2009 World Baseball Classic alongside his brother Scott. Hairston's mother was born in Mexico, making him eligible to play for the Mexican team.^[2][3]

On July 31, 2009, Jerry Hairston Jr. was traded to the New York Yankees for minor league catcher Chase Weems. On August 1, 2009, Hairston got his first hit and RBI as a Yankee. On October 17, 2009, he got his first career post-season hit in his first career post-season at-bat and later ended a 13-inning ALCS Game 2 by scoring on an error by the Angels' Maicer Izturis. This gave the Yankees a 2–0 advantage going into the third game of the series.

On January 18, 2010, Hairston signed a one year, $2.15 million contract with the San Diego Padres, the same team as his brother, Scott Hairston, was playing on.^[4] Hairston's 2010 season was cut short in September with a fractured right tibia.

On January 19, 2011, Hairston agreed to a 1 year, $2 million contract with the Washington Nationals that included over $1 million in incentives.^[5]

On July 30, 2011, Hairston was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers for Double-A outfielder Erik Komatsu.^[6]

Through 2011, he was 9th of all major leaguers in career sacrifice bunts, with 84.^[7]

Performance-enhancing drugs controversy

Main article: Mitchell Report (baseball)

According to Luis Fernando Llosa and L. Jon Wertheim, Jerry Hairston Jr. received genotropin, human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) and clomiphene citrate in 2004. One of Hairston's prescriptions was written by "A. Almarashi." Investigators believe Almarashi is an alias for a Queens, N.Y., doctor stripped of her medical license in 1999. She is awaiting trial on multiple charges after allegedly writing bogus prescriptions for thousands of online customers she never examined. Hairston denied any connection, stating "Not one time have I taken steroids or anything like that. [ . . . ] I would never do anything like that to jeopardize my career or my family's name."

On December 13, 2007, he was cited in the Mitchell Report to the Commissioner of Baseball of an Independent Investigation Into the Illegal Use of Steroids and Other Performance Enhancing Substances by Players in Major League Baseball.^[8]

Personal life

Jerry's brother Scott plays for the New York Mets. Their father Jerry Hairston, Sr. and grandfather Sam Hairston were also major league players, making him the first African American to be a third-generation major-leaguer. Hairston's heritage is also Mexican American on his mother's side.^[2] His uncle Johnny Hairston also played in the majors. Several other family members have also played in the minor leagues.

He attended Naperville North High School in Naperville, Illinois and Southern Illinois University. Hairston became a Jehovah's Witnesses in July 2000.^[9]

See also

• Third-generation Major League Baseball families
• List of Baltimore Orioles Opening Day Starting Lineups

References and citations

1. ^ "Reds re-sign Jerry Hairston Jr". Cincinnati.reds.mlb.com. http://cincinnati.reds.mlb.com/news/press_releases/press_release.jsp?ymd=20090107&content_id=3735642&vkey=pr_cin&fext=.jsp&c_id=cin. Retrieved October 3, 2011. 
2. ^ ^{a b} [1]^{[dead link]}
3. ^ Sanchez, Jesse (January 25, 2009). "World Baseball Classic: Team Mexico taking on old prejudices". Web.worldbaseballclassic.com. http://web.worldbaseballclassic.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090125&content_id=3770858&vkey=wbc&team=. Retrieved October 3, 2011. 
4. ^ By Corey Brock / MLB.com. "Hairston to join brother in San Diego". Mlb.mlb.com. http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100118&content_id=7932598&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb. Retrieved October 3, 2011. 
5. ^ "Nationals, utility man Jerry Hairston Jr. agree to one-year deal". Washington.nationals.mlb.com. September 13, 2010. http://washington.nationals.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20110119&content_id=16461444&vkey=news_was&c_id=was. Retrieved October 3, 2011. 
6. ^ "Nats deal Hairston for outfield prospect". Washington.nationals.mlb.com. July 30, 2011. http://washington.nationals.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20110730&content_id=22512078&vkey=news_was&c_id=was. Retrieved October 3, 2011. 
7. ^ "Jerry Hairston Statistics and History". Baseball-Reference.com. http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/h/hairsje02.shtml. Retrieved October 3, 2011. 
8. ^ Mitchell, George (December 13, 2007). "Mitchell Report on Steroid Use in Baseball" (PDF). http://files.mlb.com/mitchrpt.pdf. Retrieved December 13, 2007. 
9. ^ No byline (2001-06-25), "Hot Hitter Plays With Fire". Sports Illustrated. 94 (26):76

External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube

Persondata
Name	Hairston, Jerry Jr.
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	May 29, 1976
Place of birth	Des Moines, Iowa
Date of death
Place of death