<\/a>On this date (May 18) in 1958, Indians\u2019 rookie Carroll Hardy hit his first major league home run \u2013 and it was a big one, a walk-off, in fact.\u00a0 It was a three-run shot in the bottom of the eleventh inning (off Billy Pierce) and it gave the Indians a 7-4 victory over the White Sox.\u00a0 Notably, Hardy was pinch-hitting for a fellow who would later gain quite a reputation for the long ball \u2013 Roger Maris. It would be the first of only 17 MLB home runs for Hardy \u2013 and it came on his 25^{th<\/sup> birthday. This dinger, and Carroll Hardy, caught Baseball Roundtable\u2019s eye for a trio of reasons.<\/p>\n}

First, the thrill it must have been to have your first home run be a walk-off.\u00a0 Second, Hardy is most noted in MLB for his notable pinch-hitting appearances. Third, it gave Hardy the distinction of having both homered in the major leagues and scored a touchdown in the National Football League.<\/p>\n

For BBRT\u2019s Minnesota Readers<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Carroll Hardy’s last MLB appearance came as a Minnesota Twin. On September 27, 1967, in a game against the Angels (in Minnesota), Hardy pinch hit for Twins’ pitcher Jim Merritt with one out and no one on in the bottom of the ninth inning. (The Twins were down 5-1 at the time). Hardy flied out to second base. Hardy finished that season appearing in nine games for the Twins – going three-for-eight, with a walk, one home run and two RBI.<\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

We\u2019ve already looked at reason one.\u00a0 Let\u2019s move on to two and three.<\/p>\n

Carroll Hardy as a pinch-hitter.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Carroll Hardy was a career .225 hitter. However, not only did he pinch hit for Roger Maris, he also \u2013 on September 20, 1960, in Ted Williams’ final MLB season \u2013 became the only player ever to pinch hit for the Splendid Splinter. It came in the top of the first inning of a game against the Orioles.\u00a0 The BoSox had a runner on first and no one out, with Williams at the plate. Williams (hitting .313 at the time) fouled a ball off his foot and had to leave the game.\u00a0 Enter pinch-hitter Hardy (hitting .217), who hit into a pitcher-to-first double play.\u00a0 (Side note: Hardy was also the final player ever to replace Williams on the field \u2013 replacing him in left field in the ninth inning of Williams’\u00a0<\/em>final game – on September 28, 1960. Williams, who had gone deep in the bottom of the eighth, took the field for the top of the ninth, but was called back to the dugout to set the stage for a final standing ovation.\u00a0 Hardy took Williams’ place in front of the Green Monster.<\/em>) On May 31 of the following season, Hardy pinch-hit for another future Red Sox Hall of Famer, Carl Yastrzemski.<\/p>\n

Carroll Hardy and Football<\/strong><\/p>\n

Carroll Hardy played for the San Francisco 49ers (receiver\/half-back) in 1955 and, like his first home run (that walk-off I talked about earlier), his first \u201ccatch\u201d was memorable \u2013 a 78-yard touchdown reception (from quarterback Y.A. Tittle) in a 38-21 win over the Lions.\u00a0 It was the 49ers’ longest play from scrimmage that season. Hardy appeared in ten games in 1955, catching 12 passes for 328 yards and four touchdowns and rushing 15 times for 37 yards.<\/p>\n

Carroll Hardy \u2013 All Around Athlete<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Carroll Hardy earned ten varsity sports letters at Colorado University (1951-55). He earned four letters in football; four in baseball; and two in track. Hardy was inducted into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame in 1979.\u00a0 His college football coach (Dial Ward) said he \u201cwas the best all around athlete Colorado has ever produced.\u201d Just a few highlights, Carroll Hardy: was a two-time honorable mention All-American in football; was the 1955 Hula Ball Most Valuable Player; gained 238 yards on ten carries in his final game for Colorado and averaged 9.2 years per carry for the season; had a 41.6 yards per kick average as a punter in his final college season; had a career batting average of .392 at Colorado; ran a 9.8 in the 100-yard dash. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Hardy played in eight MLB seasons (1958-64, 1967 \u2026 Red Sox, Indians, Astros, Twins) going .225-17-113 in 433 games.<\/p>\n

Primary resources: Baseball-Reference.com; Colorado Sports Hall of Fame; Colorado University Athletic Hall of Fame; Carroll Hardy Bio, Society for American Baseball Research, by Bill Nowlin.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

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Member: Society for American Baseball Research (SABR); The Baseball Reliquary; The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On this date (May 18) in 1958, Indians\u2019 rookie Carroll Hardy hit his first major league home run \u2013 and it was a big one, a walk-off, in fact.\u00a0 It was a three-run shot in the bottom of the eleventh inning (off Billy Pierce) and it gave the Indians a 7-4 victory over the White […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11732,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\t\n