Jerry Hairston: An appreciation

by RijoSaboCaseyWKRP on Oct 14, 2011 12:21 PM EDT in Playoffs

As easy as it is sometimes to brush aside the celebrated importance veteran experience, Hairston's masterfully evasive slide last night that nicked the very bottom point of the plate - and tied the game - was the work of a hard nosed professional who's been around the game. I've longed to break down and write a sentence like that. As long as I'm down here: He's a gritty gamer who plays the game right and his gameface is always on when it's gameday. Felt good.

I've had a weakness for journeymen utility players for as long as I've been a fan. They can't be outright scrubs who are on the team out of some misbegotten notion of leadership or as a favor to the manager. These are players that, for at least a season, combine position flexibility, experience and watchability with a something of a late-career surge which makes the eminently root-able. Miguel Cairo is the latest incarnation. With a squint, they begin to look like consummate ballplayers - building their career across every professional league in affiliated baseball over more than a decade and capable of thriving at any position. Disruptions in the aging curve aren't mean to last, but they remind us that the back of the baseball card isn't always fatalistic.

Like Cairo, Hairston also seems to lack the cynicism that might creep in over the years - possibly because they've learned the art of delayed gratification, saving a reserve of enthusiasm some players may spend when they peak earlier in their careers. Hairston's pull-quote from last night was telling: "I had so much fun with the Yankees team in '09 when we won it. This time, I'm really getting a chance to play, which is great. I'm really enjoying it." Thank the Reds and Chase Weems for that.

In 2008, Jerry Hairston had an out-of-nowhere .871 OPS season with the Reds. He had had some success in Baltimore early in his career, but by the time he reached Cincinnati was 32 and had just spent two seasons in Texas below the Mendoza line. His 297 PAs was just around the right sample in which these bouts of utility brilliance seem to take place. It was a bright spot in that lost season. And after another one of those this year, it helps to not always root for the laundry.

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Comments

That is an awesome slide in and of itself.

But when you compare it to Cabrera’s lame out at home the night before, it becomes even more interesting. I realize that running into the catcher has its sex appeal too, but what Hairston did was much more artful…and much more effective. I’ll take a clever slide or a balletic leap over the catcher every time.

by Cuetotally Amazing on Oct 14, 2011 12:33 PM EDT reply actions

Cabrera was very disappointing on that play

He is not a burner, and it was a good throw, but Jesus was he out by a lot. He got a poor jump, and didn’t seem to come down the line that hard – he ran into the catcher more or less in a “fuck it I’m dead” sort of way. In the end, that lost them the game. Hairston is probably not any faster than Cabrera, but I bet he would have made a much better attempt.

On balance, you live with occasional shitty baserunning from a great player, but it is frustrating when something so manageable (anyone can be a good baserunner) is done so poorly.

Players like Hairston and Cairo basically have jobs because more talented players are often lax in certain fundamentals, thereby making fundamentally sound, hustling vets more valuable.

Molecular gastronomy can take a hike as far as I'm concerned.

by RoastBeefKazenzakis on Oct 14, 2011 12:40 PM EDT up reply actions

Remember Votto's leap earlier this year?

He ended up getting tagged out, but by stopping short, he fooled the catcher and put him off balance, giving himself a chance to leap over him despite the fact that the ball beat him to home plate. He very nearly made it, and it had nothing to do with foot speed. You’d think that Detroit’s best player, in a winnable ALCS game for a team suffering from numerous injuries, would be a little more clever. At least try to run around him if possible. The collision really only makes sense when the ball and runner get to the plate at the same time, much like the cornerback’s hit on a WR at the moment of the catch.

This is yet another reason why I am a dedicated Votto fan. His intelligence is his greatest talent.

by Cuetotally Amazing on Oct 14, 2011 12:45 PM EDT up reply actions

Here's that Votto play:

http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=16244407

by Cuetotally Amazing on Oct 14, 2011 12:50 PM EDT up reply actions

I'm fine with trucking the catcher, especially when you are beat.

But, Cabrera didn’t truck the catcher, he just rubbed chests with him. Basically, Cabrera just fell over. If you go in at full speed, and lower your shoulder, I’ll respect the move. Cabrera never tried to break up the play.

You had me at meat tornado. ~ Ron Swanson

by BigBabyBruce on Oct 14, 2011 1:03 PM EDT up reply actions

Exactly

On top of everything else, his “collision” was more of a face-saving move. Honestly, were it a meaningless regular season game, you could forgive the general laziness, but in a game your team desperately needed, that was pretty bush league.

Molecular gastronomy can take a hike as far as I'm concerned.

by RoastBeefKazenzakis on Oct 14, 2011 1:13 PM EDT up reply actions

Cabrera is really slow. Much slower than Hairston, I'd bet.

I didn’t see whether he got a bad jump, but I’m sure he was going as hard as he could down the line during a tie game in the LCS. Napoli did a great job to get his center of gravity as low as possible and brace for the impact. Cabrera could’ve gotten lower, but it wouldn’t have mattered.

by ken on Oct 14, 2011 6:47 PM EDT up reply actions