One common theme throughout Joe Posnanski’s The Soul of Baseball is the value Buck O’Neil placed on the relationship between fathers and sons. He believed baseball is a sport you can’t learn on your own, and he said the most common (and best) way to learn it is from a father.
Years ago I was struck by the family lines that connected the Negro Leagues and the major leagues, so I wrote Legacy to tell those stories.
Watching a player named Jerry Hairston, Jr. play sparked a conversation between O’Neil and Posnanski about the number of fathers and sons in the major leagues. It just so happens I was blessed to interview Jerry Hairston, Sr., Jerry Hairston, Jr., and Scott Hairston for Legacy. The Hairstons are one of four families I featured – the others being the Giles, Tiant and Weeks families.
Here is a short excerpt from the Hairston chapter that illustrates the strength of their family bond, which extends from Negro League star Sam Hairston to five ball-playing descendants:
The league that had rejected black players for decades had opened its arms wide by the 1960s, and Sam’s second son, John, was drafted by the Chicago Cubs in 1965. John would play just three games in the big leagues in 1969, but in doing so became the first African-American father/son duo in big league history.
Sam’s oldest son, Sam, Jr., played one season in the minors in 1966, as did Sam’s much younger brother Jack, who was actually a rookie-ball teammate of nephew Sam, Jr.
Up to that point, the Hairston’s integrated league careers had been short and unremarkable. But in 1973 – 22 years after Sam’s cup of coffee with the White Sox – a Hairston finally earned a long-term spot in the big leagues. Sam’s third son, Jerry, broke in as a 21-year-old outfielder on that same White Sox roster that included Sam for four games. He would play 14 seasons, almost all of them with the White Sox.
“I was very happy to get drafted by the White Sox (in 1970), to get to live out the dream my dad had,” Jerry Hairston Sr. recalled. “It was a real source of pride to follow in his footsteps not only as a player, but to do it in the same organization.
“To play on the same field that he did, and to go to many of the same places that he did and see firsthand where so many of the stories took place that he’d told me growing up… I know he was proud, too.”
Now a third generation of Hairstons is playing in the major leagues that once rejected their grandfather. Jerry’s sons Jerry Hairston Jr. and Scott have had long and successful careers.
The Hairston family has certainly benefited from integration. They’ve come a long ways from the Negro League salaries their grandfather earned. The grandsons have each made several million dollars during their playing careers.
“Baseball has been very good to my family and I am very privileged to have the Hairston name on my back,” said Jerry Hairston Jr. “My brother and I understand what a blessing this opportunity is.”
Jerry Hairston Jr. understands that he grew up with a rare perspective – he is a product of both racist oppression, and social and economic privilege.
“Having a grandfather who (was kept out of the white leagues) because of his color, and then having a father who played in the big leagues for a long time, I was kind of able to see two different sides of the history. I never saw my grandfather play, obviously, but hearing the stories and tracing down the line from my uncles, my father playing, and now me and my brother, I can definitely trace the history of how integration played out.”
“I’m very proud that I’m kind of like the bridge that went all the way from the Negro Leagues to today, and to have my sons carry on that legacy,” said Jerry Hairston Sr. “My father passed that joy of the game on to me and I was able to pass it on in my sons. It’s a special thing that my sons are carrying on what was so important to my father.”
The third generation of Hairstons understand all that has been passed down to them, and the men who made it possible.
“Probably more than most anyone, our family knows how we got where we are and who made it possible,” said Scott Hairston. “From the time I was a kid, this is all I ever wanted to do. Ever since I can remember, I’ve been at the ballpark, watching my dad, and watching guys play, being in the clubhouse. This is all I ever wanted to do, and now I have kids of my own, two boys, and they love baseball, just like I did. That doesn’t just happen by chance. My grandfather loved the game first, and he passed that down to our family. And it was always for the love of the game. It was never about money or showmanship or pride. My grandfather, with all the stories he told… who wouldn’t want to play baseball after hearing all his stories?”
“We’re very proud of who we are,” added Jerry Hairston Jr. “We’re not the Griffeys. We’re not the Bonds. We never were superstars. But we’re guys that loved the game of baseball and worked extremely hard at our craft. We brought our lunch pails to work. Come to work every day, give it everything you have, and hopefully that is enough. That’s basically the legacy of our family.”
The Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library is sponsoring a community read of The Soul of Baseball, and has dozens of copies available. I will participate in a group discussion of the book on Feb. 16. Then Posnanski will be at the library on Feb. 17 to talk about O’Neil, the book and his experiences.