Sam Hairston

Samuel Harding Hairston (January 20, 1920 – October 31, 1997) was a Negro League baseball and Major League Baseball player. He played for the Birmingham Black Barons and the Indianapolis Clowns of the Negro Leagues and played part of one season (1951) with the Chicago White Sox as a catcher. He is buried in Birmingham's Elmwood Cemetery.

Hairston comes from the biggest major league baseball family, as the father of MLB players Jerry Hairston, Sr. and Johnny Hairston, and the grandfather ofJerry Hairston, Jr. and Scott Hairston. A son, Sammy Hairston Jr., and three grandsons, Johnny Hairston Jr., Jeff Hairston and Jason Hairston played in the minor leagues. The five Hairstons who have played in the majors are tied for the most ever with the Delahanty brothers. The two other three-generation MLB families have four members each: the Boone family (Ray, Bob, Bret and Aaron) and the Bell family (Gus, Buddy, David, and Mike).