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Article: HAIRSTONS: PIONEER BASEBALL FAMILY ON BASEBALL GORDON EDES A PIONEER BASEBALL FAMILYO N THE DAY ORIOLES SECOND BASEMAN JERRY HAIRSTON JR. WAS BORN, MAY 29, 1976, TONY LA RUSSA DROVE HAIRSTON'S FATHER TO THE HOSPITAL IN DES MOINES.
- Article from:
- The Boston Globe (Boston, MA)
- Article date:
- April 11, 2001
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 2001 The Boston Globe. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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Those are the kinds of things that happen when you're born into a
baseball family. When his dad later played for La Russa's White Sox,
little Jerry used to pester Harold Baines, the stately first baseman.
Imagine how old Harold felt years later when he walked into the
Orioles' clubhouse to find that childe Jerry was now his teammate.
But Hairston's roots in the game go even deeper, into the richest,
blackest soil. They can be traced back to his grandfather, Sam
Hairston, a catcher who starred for the Indianapolis Clowns of the
Negro American League and played with Cool Papa Bell, Satchel Paige,
and Ted "Double-Duty" Radcliffe, names that were regularly heard
around the Hairston dinner table.