James Warren Hardin (August 6, 1943 – March 9, 1991) was an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

player. He played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

as a right-handed

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

from through , most notably as a member of the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...

dynasty that won three consecutive American League pennants from 1969 to 1971 and, won the

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

in 1970. He also played for the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...

and the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in Bos ...

Baseball career

Hardin attended

Memphis State University } The University of Memphis (UofM) is a public university, public research university in Memphis, Tennessee. Founded in 1912, the university has an enrollment of more than 22,000 students. The university maintains the Herff College of Engineering ...

to play baseball from 1961 to 1962. While at Memphis State, he turned down offers to go pro, and after only 14 college games, Hardin signed a contract with the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

, which included a $10,000 bonus. Despite higher offers from other teams, Hardin picked the Mets, at the time a new expansion team with a lot of opportunities. Hardin spent three years in the Mets' minor league system before he drafted by the

in the 1965 minor league draft. In 1967, he was called up from the minor leagues to replace an injured

Jim Palmer James Alvin Palmer (born October 15, 1945) is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played 19 years in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Baltimore Orioles (1965–1967, 1969–1984). Palmer was the winningest MLB pitcher in the ...

. On May 10, 1969, in a relief appearance, Hardin hit a game-winning walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth inning in Baltimore's Memorial Stadium. On July 27, 1969, Hardin starred in the Orioles' most dominant shut-out victory in their history, routing the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...

, 17–0. Hardin took the win over Billy Wynne, allowing just two hits with five strikeouts and also hit a home run in the fourth inning off

Gary Bell Gary Bell may refer to: * Gary Bell (baseball) (born 1936), American Major League Baseball pitcher * Gary Bell (footballer) (born 1947), English footballer * Gary Bell Jr. (born 1992), American basketball player {{hndis, Bell, Gary ...

. He pitched a complete game shutout on May 26, 1970, against the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive Fi ...

, allowing only five singles in the game. Three weeks later, Hardin pitched ten innings surrendering only six hits with zero walks versus the Washington Senators. The Orioles prevailed 3–2 in 13 innings with Pete Richert earning the win with three relief innings. In Cleveland on August 6, 1970, Hardin threw a complete game five-hitter in the second game of a doubleheader against the Indians. Hardin helped himself with a two-run triple in the second inning and also picked up another RBI by drawing a bases-loaded walk in the eighth inning. As a member of the

on June 28, 1972, he hit a 2-out solo home run in the 4th inning off the Padres' Fred Norman in

San Diego Stadium San Diego Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium on the west coast of the United States, in San Diego, California. The stadium opened in 1967 as San Diego Stadium and was known as Jack Murphy Stadium from 1981 to 1997. From 1997 to 2017, the stadi ...

. While Hardin was with the Orioles, Palmer reported that some of the players did not like him very much. "But Brooks Robinson and Davey Leonhard and me, we think he's a decent guy if you get to know him, which most of the others didn't do." "Hardin really was an impressive pitcher before he hurt his shoulder," Palmer described him. "He had great control."

Death

Hardin, a pilot, died on March 9, 1991, when his Beech 35-C33A crashed in Key West,

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

."Ex-Oriole Jim Hardin is killed in plane crash," ''The Baltimore Sun'', Monday, March 11, 1991.
Retrieved July 19, 2019 Shortly after taking off from

Key West International Airport Key West International Airport is an international airport located in the City of Key West in Monroe County, Florida, United States, east of the main commercial center of Key West. Flights departing from EYW often have weight restrictions, b ...

the propeller of his aircraft failed from fatigue. The aircraft stalled and the plane crashed while Hardin attempted to return to the airport to make an emergency landing. It was widely reported that, during the plane's descent, Hardin steered the plane away from a baseball field filled with young children. The plane came to rest in a parking lot of a

TGI Fridays TGI Fridays (operating in the UK as FRIDAYS) is an American restaurant chain focusing on primarily American cuisine and casual dining. The restaurant's founder said the name stood for "Thank God It's Friday", although some television commercial ...

restaurant, which was under construction at the time. Hardin was survived by his wife and three children.

References

External links

Jim Hardin Tribute - maintained by the Hardin family
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hardin, Jim 1943 births 1991 deaths Accidental deaths in Florida Atlanta Braves players Auburn Mets players Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents in the United States Baltimore Orioles players Baseball players from Tennessee Elmira Pioneers players Major League Baseball pitchers Memphis Tigers baseball players New York Yankees players People from Hardin County, Tennessee Quincy Jets players Richmond Braves players Rochester Red Wings players Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1991 Williamsport Mets players