Joe L. Brown, the former general manager of the Pirates, arranged a tryout for Khalifa with the San Diego Padres in 1990. Khalifa quit baseball without attending the tryout following the murder of his father. He played 164 games across three seasons in the majors, most as a shortstop. His primary historical importance arises from his status as the first man of Egyptian descent to play major league baseball. He ended his career with a .219 batting average, a .294 on-base percentage, and a .285 slugging percentage.