Carroll Hardy
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Carroll William Hardy (born May 18, 1933 in Sturgis, South Dakota) is a former backup outfielder in Major League Baseball who played for the Cleveland Indians (1958-1960[start]), Boston Red Sox (1960[end]-1962), Houston Colt .45s (1963-1964) and Minnesota Twins (1967). He batted and threw right handed.
A former third-round pick, Hardy chose baseball over football after one year in the NFL. He caught 12 passes – four for touchdowns – while with the San Francisco 49ers in 1955, but his biggest claim to fame will always be related to baseball, even though he was named the Hula Bowl MVP that year.
Most die-hard baseball fans know that Hardy has the honor of being the only player ever to pinch-hit for Ted Williams, but few people know that Hardy's pinch-hit resume goes well beyond this claim to trivia immortality. A reserve for the majority of his career, he debuted with the Cleveland Indians in the 1958 season. On May 18, celebrating his 25th birthday, he pinch-hit for Roger Maris and belted his first major league home run, a three-run blast off Billy Pierce, to lead Cleveland to a 7–4 victory over the Chicago White Sox.
Late in the 1960 season, Hardy was on the bench for the Boston Red Sox. Ted Williams, in the final days of his Hall of Fame career, fouled a ball off his foot in the first inning of a game on September 20. After he limped off the field, Hardy finished the at-bat for him, becoming the only player ever to do so. Hardy lined into a double play. On September 28 at Fenway Park, in his final major league appearance, Williams hit his 521st and last home run against Jack Fischer of the Baltimore Orioles. In the ninth inning, he was replaced by Hardy in left field. "They booed me all the way out and cheered him all the way in," Hardy later remembered. Then, on May 31, 1961, Hardy pinch-hit for rookie Carl Yastrzemski, making him the only player in major league history to go in for both future Hall of Famers.
Hardy saw most action in 1962, posting career-highs in games (115), at-bats (362), hits (78), runs, home runs (eight) and runs batted in (36), but hit just a ..215 average. On April 11 Hardy enjoyed another career highlight at Fenway Park, when he broke up a scoreless pitching duel between Ron Taylor of Cleveland and Bill Monbouquette of the Red Sox, hitting a 12th-inning, walk-off grand slam for a 4–0 Boston victory over the Indians. He also spent time with the Houston Colt .45s, then finished his major league career with the Minnesota Twins in 1967.
In an eight-season career, Hardy was a .225 hitter with 17 home runs and 113 RBI in 433 games.
With his baseball career behind him, Hardy worked for 20 years in the Denver Broncos' front office. As a player personnel director, he was the key figure in building what eventually became the Orange Crush Defense in the 1970s. He was also part of the Broncos when they went to Super Bowl XII in 1977. Currently, he work for Steamboat Springs, Colorado.
[edit] Fact
- Hardy, who not only gained notoriety pinch-hitting for Ted Williams, Carl Yastrzemski and Roger Maris, always had a knack for being around big names. As a 49er, he shared the field with Pro Football Hall of Famers Y.A. Tittle, Joe Perry and Hugh McElhenny.
