Hairston Upset With Sitting
Jerry Hairston, Jr. is upset at sitting in favor of Neifi Perez, reports the Chicago Tribune.
The Trib quotes Hairston as saying, "I'm not [peeved]. I just want to play every day. It's no different from yesterday. … I don't have to prove myself to anybody. What I've done when I'm healthy speaks for itself. . . . I'm a positive person. I don't feel I'm arrogant or cocky. Neifi is a good player. I'm happy for him. I'm definitely pulling for him."
Of course, most should be upset at sitting in favor of the hitting-challenged Perez.
Hairston also says he regrets agreeing to playing the outfield for Baltimore last year, as it gave him the "utility player" tag. "Last year I was begging the Orioles to trade me because I didn't want to get that tag. I want to shake it. I just don't like it. But I will do whatever it takes to help this team win."
It seeems to me that the last sentence is inconsistent with the previous statements, but whatever the case, Hairston should be playing and Perez should be firmly planted on the bench for emergency situations only.
UPDATE: In another Trib article, beat writer Paul Sullivan definitively states that Perez "will receive the bulk of the playing time at second." If true, Perez has a great chance of being this year what Lenny Harris was in 2003: a veteran who rarely hits the ball out of the infield but plays while a superior player sits. Sullivan, however, does not cite a source for his statement.
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Hairston should be upset, tho
Hairston should be upset, though I do think you're slanting the quote there. He says he's upset to be on the bench, period, not that he's on the bench in favor of Perez. Hairston surely deserves a starting second-base spot somewhere in the major leagues.
Moreover, Cubs fans deserve a manager capable of thought. This really, really takes the cake. Starting Lenny Harris at third base for two months was bad, but this really takes the cake. At least Bellhorn stunk it up for a month before Baker pulled him. And he, unlike Hairston, wasn't "proven." And he wasn't fast, as Hairston is. His value, then as now, as an OBP machine with a little pop could easily be overlooked. But Perez over Hairston.
If Perez starts most of the games at second until Walker comes back (and batting second -- aargh!) ... well, I just don't know what to say. It's too terrible for words.
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Kevin B. O'Reilly
http://kevin.oreilly.net/howl/
though I do think you're slan
though I do think you're slanting the quote there. He says he's upset to be on the bench, period, not that he's on the bench in favor of Perez
Agreed. I didn't mean to indicate otherwise. Sorry for the confusion.