Carroll Hardy
Carroll William Hardy (May 18, 1933 – August 9, 2020) was an American professional athlete who played in the National Football League for the San Francisco 49ers (1955) and in Major League Baseball for the Cleveland Indians (1958–1960), Boston Red Sox (1960–1962), Houston Colt .45s (1963–1964) and Minnesota Twins (1967). Born in Sturgis, South Dakota, he batted and threw right-handed and was listed as tall and . Amateur career Hardy attended the University of Colorado from 1951 to 1955, where he lettered in football, baseball and track. He was all-Big Seven Conference as a halfback, running from a single-wing formation under head coach Dallas Ward, and All-Conference in baseball under head coach Frank Prentup. Professional football A third-round pick in the 1955 NFL Draft, Hardy chose baseball over football after one year in the National Football League (NFL). He caught 12 passes—four for touchdowns— while he played halfback 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. As a 49er, he shared the field with Pro Football Hall of Famers Y. A. Tittle, Joe Perry and Hugh McElhenny. Major League Baseball Most diehard baseball fans know that Hardy had the honor of being the only player ever to have pinch-hit for Ted Williams, but few know that his pinch-hit résumé goes well beyond this claim to immortality: he also pinch hit for Carl Yastrzemski, Williams's replacement in left field, and also pinch-hit for Roger Maris. Indians Hardy spent two seasons, 1957–58, with the Indians' farm team, the San Diego Padres, owned at the time by C. Arnholt Smith, founder and owner of San Diego's U.S. National Bank. 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. Red Sox Hardy was on the bench for the Boston Red Sox on September 20, 1960. 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 pinch hit for Williams. 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 off Jack Fisher 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