 |
 |
James Warren Hardin
Baltimore Orioles
Pitcher
Born: August 6, 1943, Morris Chapel, TN
Signed: Signed by the New York Mets as an amateur free agent before 1962 season
Major League Teams: Baltimore Orioles 1967-71; New York Yankees 1971; Atlanta Braves 1972
Died: March 9, 1991, Key West, FL (age 47)
Originally drafted by the expansion Mets, Jim Hardin pitched for four seasons in the Mets' organization before being drafted by the Orioles in November 1965 in the minor league draft. He'd earn a promotion in June 1967, taking the roster spot of an injured Jim Palmer (#573). Hardin pitched well over the second half of the 1967 season (8-3, 2.27 ERA in 111 innings pitched), but pitched even better in 1968, his first full season in the majors. Hardin was 18-13 that year with a 2.51 ERA in 35 starts, throwing 244 innings, second on the club to only Dave McNally (#340) with 273 innings pitched. Hardin was a key contributor to the Orioles dynasty that won American League East pennants in 1969, 1970 and 1971, and won the World Series in 1970. However, Hardin didn't appear in any postseason games with the Orioles.
Originally drafted by the expansion Mets, Jim Hardin pitched for four seasons in the Mets' organization before being drafted by the Orioles in November 1965 in the minor league draft. He'd earn a promotion in June 1967, taking the roster spot of an injured Jim Palmer (#573). Hardin pitched well over the second half of the 1967 season (8-3, 2.27 ERA in 111 innings pitched), but pitched even better in 1968, his first full season in the majors. Hardin was 18-13 that year with a 2.51 ERA in 35 starts, throwing 244 innings, second on the club to only Dave McNally (#340) with 273 innings pitched. Hardin was a key contributor to the Orioles dynasty that won American League East pennants in 1969, 1970 and 1971, and won the World Series in 1970. However, Hardin didn't appear in any postseason games with the Orioles.
Arm problems derailed his career during the 1970 season. He'd pitch sparingly with the Orioles and Yankees in 1971, finishing up his big league time pitching in 26 games with the Braves in 1972. In parts of six seasons, Hardin was 43-32 with a 3.18 ERA in 751 2/3 innings pitched. He struck out 408 to just 202 walks in the majors.
December 15, 2024 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards)
On Sunday, December 15th, Doug and I attended the latest Philly Show, spaciously spread out inside Hall A of the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pennsylvania. I wrote a full show report over at The Phillies Room, including some thoughts on attending the show with our oldest son, who first graced the Philly Show floors back in 2012.
Having had success the prior two shows at Uncle Dick's Cards with his well-organized, neon common binders, I opted to pull up a chair once again at the friendly dealer's array of tables. The aim was simple: Clear out Uncle Dick's 1969 Topps commons, starting off where I had left off the year before with card #501 and going through the end of the set, card #664. In less than 25 minutes, I completed my quest, and this is the 66th of 98 commons pulled from the binder. After a generous dealer discount due to my bulk purchase, this card cost me less than $1.50.
This is Hardin's second appearance in the set, as he graced one of only four Combo Player Cards from Series 6. He's one of four "Bird Hill Aces" (#532) on the card along with Tom Phoebus (#185), McNally and Mike Cuellar (#453). The photo used for Hardin's solo card was likely taken at the same time as the combo photo, during 1969 spring training. The cartoon on the back shows how Hardin came to the Orioles from the Mets, and the write-up highlights his success during the 1968 season. He was 5-1 overall against the Senators, with a 2.09 ERA in 51 2/3 innings pitched.
Accuracy Index: Hardin's card earns a +5.
1969 Season
Coming off his best season, Hardin bounced between the starting rotation and the bullpen in 1969, finishing with a 6-7 record and a 3.60 ERA in 30 games, including 20 starts. On May 10th, he hit a walk-off home run off the Royals' Moe Drabowsky (#508) to give the Orioles a 6-5 win. He'd hit a three-run home run against the White Sox in a 17-0 shutout victory on July 27th.
|
|
|
|
|
First Mainstream Card: 1968 Topps #222
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (6): 1968-73
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1973 Topps #124
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 27 in the Beckett online database as of 5/24/25.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia
Hardin's 26 wins in his first 2 seasons really helped out during Jim Palmer's 2 years on the DL.
ReplyDelete