By PAUL CIFONELLI
Jerry Hairston Jr. went back and forth between Rochester and Baltimore during the 1999 season. The 22-year old was sent to the minors after Spring Training, recalled later in the year then was demoted for a second time. When Hairston returned to Rochester for the second time, he realized what the organization thought of him.
“I was disappointed, but the best thing is that the veterans on the team were disappointed too,” Hairston told the Democrat & Chronicle. “It showed me I won their respect.”
Hairston, whose brother, father, grandfather and uncle all played in the major leagues, batted .269 with four home runs and nine stolen bases in his 50 games with Baltimore in 1999. He batted .257 over his 16-year MLB career.
After realizing he won their respect, Hairston delivered on the field. Less than a week after being sent to Rochester he hit an RBI double and a triple to help the Wings to a 3-2 win over Ottawa.
Jesse Garcia singled and stole a base before Hairston doubled to give the Red Wings a 1-0 lead in the third inning.
It was an error by Garcia that allowed Ottawa to take a lead, as his poor throw extended the top of the sixth. David Post and Francisco Morales followed up with RBI singles, but only one of the runs was earned.
In the bottom half of the sixth, Hairston’s triple set up an RBI single by Derrick May to knot the game at two. May also knocked in the winning run with a groundout in the bottom of the eighth after Eugene Kingsale doubled and advanced to third on a wild pitch.
Terry Burrows, the Red Wings starter, made his first appearance since May 25 due to a partially torn left rotator cuff. He threw three scoreless innings and allowed two hits and a walk to go with two strikeouts. Matt Snyder picked up the win hurling a scoreless eighth and Gabe Molina registered the save.
Ottawa hitting
| Player | AB | R | H | BI |
| Jones CF | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Carvajal SS | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Coquillette 2B | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Fernandez 1B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Post LF | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Morales C | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Stowers DH | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Hunter RF | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Camilli 3B | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Rochester hitting
| Player | AB | R | H | BI |
| Kingsale CF | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Hairston 2B | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| May LF | 4 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Minor 3B | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Pickering 1B | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Vinas DH | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Davis C | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dunn RF | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Garcia SS | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
E- Garcia DP- Ottawa 1 LOB- Ottawa 5, Rochester 5 2B- Camilli, Kingsale, Hairston 3B- Hairston SB- Post, Garcia CS- Hairston
Ottawa 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0- 2
Rochester 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 X- 3
Ottawa pitching
| Player | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
| Scott Mitchell | 5.2 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Jayson Durocher L(0-1) | 1.2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Scott Forster | 0.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Rochester pitching
| Player | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
| Terry Burrows | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Jason McCommon | 4 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Matt Snyder W(4-6) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Gabe Molina S(11) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
WP- Durocher HBP- by Mitchell (Minor) Time- 2:12 Attendance- 10,330
Also on this day: The Rochester Red Wings and Scott Baker took down the Charlotte Knights 1-0 at Frontier Field in 2005. Baker’s pitching and Kevin West’s big solo home run led the Wings to victory. West’s home run to left broke the scoreless tie in the seventh, putting the Wings up 1-0. Baker, pitching in his first Red Wings start after his one-day call up to the big leagues, pitched a gem of a game.
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