"I am not a guy with a big ego nor am I here to rock the boat," Hairston said. "I am a team guy and I want to just help out. Brian is having a great season."
This is why I love this guy. Jerry Hairston is a ball player and he is one that plays with a lot of heart and hustle, the way the game is suppose to be played. He will finally be returning to the team healthy after missing most of last season with a fractured foot and the beginning of this season with a fractured fingered. The much anticipated fight over second base didn’t take place this spring when Hairston went down with his injury. Both he and Brian Roberts play the game the way it was meant to be played and they are fuel for the other to excel.
This was no more evident than when it was announced that Hairston was going to begin his rehab assignment. Roberts was batting around .260 and promptly went 3 – 4 with a couple runs scored and hasn’t looked back since. He is currently batting around .330 and is doing his job by not only getting on base but flashing the leather as well. The only problem I have with Brian Roberts is that he isn’t Jerry Hairston.
Growing up an Oriole fan I have always had a favorite player. One that for one reason or another, I just loved to watch play. Cal Ripken has always been a favorite and one that will always stand out as a life-long Oriole great, with the likes of Brooks Robinson. But when I really started getting into baseball and following the O’s, I was about 10 years old. I was a catcher and as such had to find a catcher to latch onto as my favorite player. He wasn’t a superstar and many will not even remember him, but Mickey Tettleton was a switch-hitting catcher with power and a very distinctive batting stance. He was one of the main reasons I choose to develop the switch-hitting talent myself. He was not on the Orioles for many seasons and faded away after he left Baltimore (at least for me). But he does have one of the bronze baseballs on the Eutaw Street corridor that he hit while playing with the Detroit Tigers.
After he left the team, the Orioles drafted a young pitcher from Stanford that graduated in 3 years and had an economics degree. He was a very intelligent player, played with a high level of concentration, perfect mechanics and pin point control. He controlled not only the baseball, but also his emotions while on the field. Mike Mussina quickly became a cornerstone in the Orioles rotation and was well on his way to having #35 retired after #8. Unfortunately, poor management (Angelos) and a lack of heart for the game and black & orange (Mussina), sent him to the most hated team in history (Yankees).
Since then I had been searching for a player that I could enjoy watching play. A player I hoped would be a cornerstone of the next 10 years plus. A player that I could watch grow into an all-star and a player that played the game with heart. That’s when Jerry Hairston entered the picture as he emerged as an everyday second basemen. Making plays in the field that dwarfed anything I saw from Roberto Alomar and coming along at the plate. He was finally having his break-out year at the plate last season, when it ended abruptly. I look forward to seeing him back in the line-up and can’t wait to see how he and Brian Roberts develop as players and push each other everyday. I proudly display my Jerry Hairston bobble-head in my office and hope he’ll be a lifetime Oriole.
UPDATE: Healthy Hairston ready to return
Posted by price at May 10, 2004 10:47 AM