For utility men like Dodgers’ Jerry Hairston, versatility is all

Sitting in Jerry Hairston Jr.’s locker in the depths of Dodger Stadium are several gloves, each with a different function. They’ve been battered during the veteran’s 15-year career with nine major league clubs, but provide a certain reliability.

Just like their owner.

The gloves are black in color, their differences subtle, but each is chosen with a specific purpose for a player trying to master his craft.

Make that several crafts.

Hairston and his glove collection constitute an underappreciated breed in baseball: the utility player.

Players don’t always appreciate the title — sounds a little like a fix-it man — but baseball managers and executives know versatile players such as Hairston are precious commodities.

While flame-throwing starters and slugging middle-of-the-order bats receive the lion’s share of attention, often a contending club is only as good as the players coming off its bench. (Ask the Lakers.)

Utility players are especially valuable in the National League because pitchers are still in the batting order. When managers change pitchers during a game, they often employ a “double-switch” and also replace a position player — typically the one who made the last out — while tweaking the batting order so the pitcher’s spot doesn’t come around again for a while.

Versatility also means one player providing injury insurance for several positions.

“It’s helped me prolong my career for sure,” Hairston says. “When a guy goes down, I can play shortstop every day for a while, I can play third base every day for a while, center field, wherever. That’s definitely helped me.”

Hairston used to have one glove, back when he was an everyday second baseman. After bouncing between the minors and the big leagues for a few years, he corralled the starting role for the Baltimore Orioles in 2001. Just two years into his starting gig, he missed most of the season because of a right foot injury, opening the door for Brian Roberts to snag the position.

When Hairston reported to spring training in 2004, his position was taken and he had to acquire some new gloves. He was called upon to dabble in several different positions, as difficult as it was for him to initially grasp the situation.

For the Dodgers this year, Hairston has played in 30 games at second base, 27 at third base, 18 in left field, two at shortstop, one at first base and one as a designated hitter. But being pegged as a utility player, Hairston says, can be a “double-edged sword.”

“It’s a shame,” he says. “Sometimes you get viewed a certain way, even if you feel you should be an everyday player. You can play several different positions very well, but because you play a different position pretty well, they want to play you everywhere.”

Elian Herrera, who spent much of the season’s first half with the Dodgers before his demotion at the All-Star break, is an example of a player who earned a big league chance in part because he is versatile. He played second, shortstop, third and in the outfield.

“Sometimes if you’re not a utility guy, you don’t get here,” Dodgers Manager Don Mattingly says. “You may not play well enough at one position to say, ‘This guy’s a big league third baseman.’

“You need role players like that. Being able to play all those positions helped get him to the big leagues rather than keeping him from playing every day in the big leagues.”

One of the oddities of the utility role is the different vision — and need — each team has for the players. One manager’s second baseman is another manager’s left fielder. Hairston said each of his nine clubs has viewed him differently.

In the nine seasons since the Orioles replaced him at second, only once has he appeared at any position as many as 50 times in a season. He also hasn’t played fewer than five positions, even in the injury shortened campaigns. Of the positions he has played, first base is the only one that has not stood atop his total appearances chart over a full season.

“I look at Jerry at third and in left right now,” says Mattingly, who has also taken advantage of Hairston’s versatility in the batting order, penciling him into the lineup in each slot except for the No. 8-hole.

When Matt Kemp missed almost two months during the first half, Hairston even hit cleanup a few times. More recently, with shortstop Dee Gordon sidelined, he filled in as the leadoff hitter a few times.

“I don’t look at it any differently if I’m hitting leadoff or hitting third,” Hairston said. “I just want to make sure I have good at-bats. If I have good at-bats, the results will come.”

Even in the twilight of his career, the 36-year-old Hairston has been productive. This season he is batting .283 with a .356 on-base percentage, four home runs and 26 RBIs in 72 games.

“I’m having more fun than I did as a younger player,” Hairston says. “I appreciate it more now because I know I’m not going to play forever. When I was a rookie and in the first couple years, I didn’t appreciate it so much because I was trying so hard to stay in the big leagues.

“Now I’m fine where I’m at.” Wherever it is.

andrew.owens@latimes.com