He played 16 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Baltimore Orioles, Chicago Cubs, Texas Rangers, Cincinnati Reds, New York Yankees, San Diego Padres, Washington Nationals, Milwaukee Brewers, and Los Angeles Dodgers.

[2] Hairston played college ball at Southern Illinois University in 1996 and 1997, where he batted .360 for his career and was the Missouri Valley Conference Freshman of the Year in 1996.

He began the 1999 season in Triple-A with the Rochester Red Wings, before being called up in June to replace the injured Delino DeShields at second base.

He got his first hit on June 27 off of New York Yankees pitcher Orlando Hernández and his first home run on July 1 off of Joey Hamilton of the Toronto Blue Jays.

[9][10] Hairston was called up again in September, hitting .269 with four home runs, nine stolen bases, and 17 RBI in 50 games on the season.

His flashy style of play drew criticism from inside the organization and from rivals, including the Yankees.

[15] However, his patience at the plate did not improve as much as the organization had hoped and second base prospect Brian Roberts was promoted on May 22.

He began the 2003 season on a hot streak, hitting .287 with two home runs, 16 RBI, and a league-leading 14 stolen bases through 42 games.

[23] He managed to hit .303 and also played all three outfield positions until a broken ankle ended his season in mid-August.

[24] In January 2005 Hairston was traded (along with Oriole prospects Mike Fontenot and David Crouthers) to the Chicago Cubs for Sammy Sosa.

[25][26] He played all three outfield positions and split time at second base with Todd Walker and Neifi Perez.

[35] Hairston won a spot on the opening day roster, as a reserve outfielder and utility player.

[41] Hairston broke his thumb sliding into second base on June 9, the same game Ken Griffey Jr. hit his 600th home run.

[48] The move was made to help shore up the team's bench, with Brett Gardner on the disabled list, and to spell Johnny Damon, Derek Jeter, and Alex Rodriguez when needed.

[52] After Everth Cabrera went down with a hamstring injury in April, Hairston became the team's starting shortstop for much of the season's first half.

He suffered an elbow injury at the end of August[56] and then broke the tibia in his right leg a week after coming off the disabled list.

[61] On July 20, his first game back from the disabled list, Hairston had three hits, including a two-run home run off J.A.

[63] The trade was made in order to help fill in for injured second baseman Rickie Weeks and outfielder Carlos Gomez, and offer an improvement over Casey Mcgehee at third base and Yuniesky Betancourt at shortstop.

[65][66] In Game 4 of the National League Championship Series against the St. Louis Cardinals, he had a clutch double to get the Brewers on the board.

[70] On June 1, 2012, Hairston was part of a Dodgers lineup that featured the sons of five former major leaguers (along with Tony Gwynn Jr., Iván DeJesús Jr., Dee Gordon and Scott Van Slyke).

On December 11, 2013, it was announced that Hairston would be retiring as an active player to join the Dodgers pre and post game broadcasting crew on SportsNet LA.

[73] According to a report by Sports Illustrated, Hairston received genotropin, human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), and clomiphene citrate in 2004.

She is awaiting trial on multiple charges after allegedly writing bogus prescriptions for thousands of online customers she never examined.