As the 2008 season approached, former Orioles infielder Jerry Hairston Jr. thought his career might be over.
Hairston had unknowingly played through a broken rib in his back the previous two seasons, and it showed. He hit .206/.270/.253 in 192 plate appearances with the Chicago Cubs and Texas Rangers in 2006, then hit .189/.249/.289 in 184 plate appearances with the Rangers in 2007. He had been a useful player with the Orioles and Cubs from 1999-2005, but his career looked over at the age of 31.
That was particularly frustrating for Hairston because he was finally healthy. Regardless, he couldn’t find a job … until an early March day in 2008. Hairston was watching a movie at an Arizona movie theater by himself when Dusty Baker, one of his former managers, reached out. Baker was in his first year as the manager of the Cincinnati Reds.
“Dusty sends me a text,” Hairston said on Glenn Clark Radio Nov. 7. “He goes, ‘Hey, you’re not with a team?’ He goes, ‘Can you call me?’ I ran out of the movie theater. I said, ‘Hey, what’s going on?’ He goes, ‘Hey, Alex Gonzalez just blew out his knee. We need an infielder. Can you get here in Sarasota, Fla., in three or four days?’ I go, ‘I will be there tonight.’ I went home, packed and I was on the next thing smoking, got to Sarasota.”
Baker, the Cubs’ manager from 2003-2006, had seen firsthand how a healthy Hairston could contribute. The Orioles had traded Hairston to Chicago as part of the package for slugger Sammy Sosa ahead of the 2005 season. Hairston hit .261/.336/.368 in 430 plate appearances in 2005 while playing mostly center field, left field and second base.
Hairston was better than that for the Reds in 2008, hitting .326/.384/.487 with 28 extra-base hits in 297 plate appearances while playing mostly shortstop and center field. He went on to play until 2013, earning a World Series ring with the New York Yankees in 2009 along the way. Hairston credits Baker for the second half of his career.
“I don’t have a second half of my career probably if Dusty Baker doesn’t call me,” Hairston said. “I owe him the second half. I’m not on the ’09 Yankees. I ended up hitting .326 that year in 2008 when Dusty gave me another chance. … I thank Dusty Baker every time I see him. Every time we played against his teams, I sent him a bottle of wine. I tell my kids, ‘Your college tuition is paid for because of Dusty Baker.’ I love that man. He’s just an incredible person.”
Baker won his first World Series as a manager when the Houston Astros defeated the Philadelphia Phillies in six games following a 106-win regular season. The championship solidifies a place in Cooperstown for Baker, who had already cleared 2,000 regular-season wins as a manager across 25 years.
Baker is so respected around the game because of how he treats his players and how well he prepares, Hairston explained.
“He really takes a genuine interest in your family, in you personally,” Hairston said. “And he is probably the most prepared guy I’ve ever been around. I’ve played for Buck Showalter. Buck Showalter is right there as being prepared. I’ve gone in Dusty’s office and he’d have a week game plan already — this series, the next series and the following series, who he wants to play, who he’s going to have as far as not only the starters but also the guys that will be in the mix to play.”
For more from Hairston, listen to the full interview here:
Photo Credit: Colin Murphy/PressBox