J. J. Hardy, 2016 Topps #233

One of the troubling realities of being a baseball fan is that you can form attachments to players, only to see them leave your favorite team. Guys get hurt, they decline, they're released or traded or just sign elsewhere as a free agent. It seemed like a foregone conclusion for a while that J. J. Hardy would not be an Oriole in 2018, but in some ways I'm just coming to terms with it nonetheless. Pedro Alvarez recently re-signed with the O's on a minor league deal, and was assigned jersey number two. As shown above, that was J. J.'s number for the past seven years. But he hadn't topped 115 games played since 2014, and hadn't been even league-average as a hitter since 2013. So at age 35, it's not really surprising that Hardy is no longer in Baltimore. In fact, he hasn't signed anywhere.

But J. J. Hardy will be fondly remembered by O's fans. He contributed to three playoff teams, and was a Gold Glover at shortstop for three straight years (2012-2014), for what that's worth. For me, I'll remember that he scored the go-ahead run on Delmon Young's bases-clearing double in the second game of the 2014 AL Division Series, and I'll remember shouting along to Camden Yards PA announcer Ryan Wagner's distinctive call: "J! J! HARDY!" If his 13-year MLB career is truly over, J. J. should feel a real sense of pride. He totaled 188 home runs, with a 30-homer season in 2011. In addition to the aforementioned Gold Gloves, he was a two-time All-Star (2007 and 2013) and a 2013 Silver Slugger awardee. I hope he can find something else to keep him busy after baseball.

J. J. Hardy, 2014 Bowman #104

All good things must come to an end, and so it is tonight; the Orioles' season-opening seven-game win streak was snuffed out in Boston tonight. But we might as well take a moment to recognize how special that 7-0 start was. Not only was it the best start to a regular season in O's history (only bested in franchise annals by the 9-0 mark by the 1944 St. Louis Browns), it was the longest win streak for any Orioles team since 2005. I knew that the Birds hadn't ripped off many extended winning jags in recent years, but I was still surprised to hear that. A belated tip of the cap to J. J. Hardy, who took advantage of the ridiculous dimensions at Fenway Park in last night's Dolly Parton Special (9-5 final, you know?) by wrapping a pair of two-run homers around the Pesky Pole down the right field line. Any time you can squeak out a couple of sub-340-foot home runs, that's a good night at the office.

J.J. Hardy, 2015 Topps Orioles Team Set #BO-11

I love this card, unfortunate numbering convention notwithstanding. This photo was taken in the bottom of the eighth inning in Game 2 of the 2014 ALDS - Friday, October 3, 2014. Delmon Young had just roped a bases-loaded pinch double into left field, blowing the nonexistent roof off of Oriole Park at Camden Yards. J.J. Hardy is sliding home ahead of Alex Avila's tag to give the O's a 7-6 lead. It's the most exciting moment I've witnessed in person as an Oriole fan, and now it's preserved in card form.

J. J. Hardy, 2014 Topps Chrome #145

The Orioles are still having a crummy week in New York, but at least J. J. Hardy is back! It's unfortunate for Everth Cabrera that he had to replace Hardy on the disabled list with a foot injury, but the former Padre was a poor substitute at shortstop for James Jerry. It's generally a good thing to have a shortstop with defensive range, a strong arm, and the ability to hit for power...or to hit at all. Don't leave us again any time soon, J. J.

J. J. Hardy, 2011 Topps Orioles Team Set #BAL15

Today is my father's 60th birthday, and the Orioles gave him a damned fine present: three more years of J. J. Hardy. On the eve of the ALCS opener, the Birds locked up the would-be free agent with a three-year contract extension that will pay him $40 million. It also includes a vesting option that could keep the Gold Glove shortstop in Baltimore through 2018. It's risky to have any player contracted through his age 35 season, but I know I'm glad to be able to watch James Jerry do his thing in the middle of the O's infield for the foreseeable future, and I'm sure Dad is happy too.

J. J. Hardy, 2013 Topps Heritage #221

I guess the Orioles don't mind it when I go on vacation. A month ago, I had a two-week adventure in Ireland with my wife. The O's were three games up in the American League East when we left. They went 10-4 in the interim and had a six-game cushion by the time we unpacked. This time, we just snuck in a long weekend getaway to the family cottage in Northeastern Pennsylvania. Nonetheless, the Birds did their part and took three out of four from the Twins while we were away. Their division lead is back up to 8.5 games, and there are 26 left to play. Of course, it would be nice if the Orioles would stop hurting themselves. Steve Pearce and J. J. Hardy both came out games in the Minnesota series with aches and pains; Pearce strained an abdominal muscle on his right side, and Hardy had some back spasms. Both are day-to-day. I know Buck Showalter and company don't do things the easy way, but I'd rather not try to wrap up an ALDS berth with an infield of Davis, Schoop, Flaherty, and Paredes.

J. J. Hardy, 2014 Topps Heritage #410

J.J. Hardy's long, powerless nightmare is over. In the eighth inning of today's 6-1 victory over the Yankees, the Orioles' shortstop finally hit his first home run of the 2014 season. It came in his 65th game of the year, but it's also worth mentioning that he didn't go deep in the final 23 games of 2013. All told, that's an 87-game, 361-plate-appearance drought that has been mercifully ended. Since Hardy's last longball on September 5, 2013, the O's have enjoyed multiple homers from such luminaries as Delmon Young, Ryan Flaherty, and David Lough. Now the Birds are within a game of second place and only trail the first-place Blue Jays by two and a half (one in the loss column). It's shaping up to be an interesting summer.

J. J. Hardy, 2013 Topps Update All-Star Stitches #ASR-JH

I've been holding onto this one for a while, but I'll post it for the sake of goofy superstition. J. J. Hardy is having an odd sort of season. After hitting 30, 22, and 25 home runs in his first three seasons in Baltimore, the Birds' All-Star shortstop has yet to go deep in 2014. It's not like the hits aren't falling for Hardy; he's batting .287, comfortably above his career average of .261, and his 14 doubles are nearly halfway to his career high of 31. Nonetheless, J. J.'s suffering a power outage reminiscent of Cesar Izturis. He's also had a rough week with the glove, committing a total of four errors last Thursday and Friday, leading to a pair of close losses. So I am offering up a piece of blue fabric that was supposedly part of an article of clothing worn by Hardy himself during last year's All-Star festivities in Queens. Look upon it and send your positive, power-hitting, clean-fielding vibes to #2.

"Think it'll work?"

"It would take a miracle."

J. J. Hardy, 2014 Panini Donruss Career Stat Line #130

This card is pretty snazzy in spite of Panini's generic, derivative design. Shiny foil, J. J. Hardy rocking the Brady Anderson sideburns, and a pointless serial-numbered parallel with its print number determined by a randomly chosen statistic from the featured player's stat line. In this case, I have the 124th of Hardy's 158 Career Stat Line cards, aligning nicely with the shortstop's 158 career home runs. As it so happens, J. J.'s 124th homer came on July 14, 2012. It was a game-tying shot off of Detroit's Joaquin Benoit in the bottom of the 11th inning. Two innings later, Taylor Teagarden's first hit as an Oriole was a walkoff two-run homer. I stood in Oriole Park at Camden Yards that Saturday evening, jumping up and down and shouting in disbelief. I mentioned it on the blog.

It's great to relive that bizarre game, because there's a lot of joy associated with that entire weekend for me. 24 hours before Saturday's game, I was on my first date with my future wife at the Hamilton Tavern. Max couldn't have known any of that when he sent this card to me. Well, he could have done the legwork I just did, and pieced together the context clues from my blog entries, but that would be...unsettling. That's my completely backwards way of thanking Max. I'm just going to quit while I'm behind.

J. J. Hardy, 2013 Topps Orioles Team Set #BAL-5

Today was a momentous day for the Orioles: J. J. Hardy stole his first base in two and a half years with the team.

Okay, that's not the headline. The O's won their league-best 16th series of 2013 by demolishing the Central-leading Tigers, 13-3. The Baltimore bats pounded out 17 hits, with the big blows coming from (shock of shocks) Chris Davis, who had a double and a pair of towering two-run homers, his 25th and 26th of the season. Taylor Teagarden added a three-run shot, giving him more runs batted in than hits. Nate McLouth chipped in with three hits and his career-best 24th stolen base, Adam Jones knocked in three runs...it was truly a group effort.

But back to Hardy. He had a single and a sacrifice fly and played his usual impeccable shortstop. He may still be basking in the glow of last night's game, when he hit his third home run of the season against 2011 American League MVP and Cy Young Justin Verlander. Overall, J. J. is rebounding nicely from a subpar offensive effort in 2012. After a slow start, he's gotten his average up to .271 on the year with 14 home runs and 43 RBI.

Thanks to the absence of Derek Jeter and the Orioles' recent success and increased fan interest, Hardy is one of four O's who would be slated to start the All-Star Game if voting ended today. Even in the Davey Johnson glory years of the late 1990s, I've never seen the Birds enjoy such popularity in Midsummer Classic voting. Jones is leading all AL outfielders in votes (even that Mike Trout guy), and seems primed to make his third All-Star appearance. Hardy's lone trip to the showcase game was back in 2007 as a Milwaukee Brewer. The other two Orioles sitting in prime position are Davis, who is holding off Prince Fielder at first base, and Nick Markakis, who is something of a surprise would-be starter. Nick was a victim of the O's long fallow period, as his superior early-career performances were largely unrecognized. He doesn't drive the ball like he once did (.488 slugging % in 2007-08, .417 to date in 2013) and has lost some zip on his throwing arm in right field, but it would be nice to see his teammates push him toward Citi Field in early July after he had to carry the weight for so long.

It's mid-June. The O's are in the thick of the American League East and Wild Card races, they're 11 games over .500 and have a whole handful of key players dotting the statistical leaderboards, and it seems like things are as they should be. This is why I hung in there for so many years.

J. J. Hardy, 2011 Topps Gypsy Queen #124

The Orioles went nearly a full decade (2000-2008) without winning a single Gold Glove Award at any defensive position. Now they've picked up a half-dozen in the past four seasons combined.

Yesterday, the O's took home three Gold Gloves, the most of any team in baseball. For the first time, J. J. Hardy's defensive excellence was recognized by his peers in the dugout. Hardy's a worthy winner; every time I see him backhand a tough hop or spear a line drive, I'm grateful that he's playing in the middle of the field for my team. He is the first Baltimore shortstop to receive this honor since Cal Ripken, Jr. nabbed his second (and final) Gold Glove in 1992. Speaking of two-time winners, the other two Birds' honorees each have received a gaudy Rawlings trophy before: center fielder Adam Jones (who first won in 2009) and catcher/bane of baserunners/pitcher whisperer Matt Wieters (who took home the prize in 2011). I'm a bit surprised that Jones won again this year, as Angels wunderkind Mike Trout earned plenty of attention for his outfield exploits, but I'll never complain about the Orioles getting a little extra recognition.

The recent Oriole drought in Gold Gloves allowed the Yankees to pass them for the most all-time in the American League. However, last night's triple play brings the team's historical total to 64, just one less than New York's 65. Hear those footsteps, Yankees?

J. J. Hardy, 2012 Topps Opening Day #41

Another night, another win, another first-place tie. My sister and I took advantage of the 1992 throwback discount to score a pair of $8 left field box seats in section 72 tonight. From that vantage point, we were treated to the J. J. Hardy Show. The Orioles shortstop went 4-for-5 with 3 runs scored, a double, a pair of home runs (numbers 20 and 21 on the season), and 5 RBI to secure a 9-2 win over the Rays. Chris Davis also went deep, which means that I've been on hand for 10 of his homers in 2012. As I intimated, not only did the O's give themselves some breathing room over Tampa Bay (now two games back), but they once again pulled even with the Yankees atop the A. L. East. As we were crossing the street, the crowd at Pickles Pub began to cheer and shout; Jacoby Ellsbury had just singled in the winning run for the lowly Red Sox in a 4-3 walkoff win over New York. I wanted to high-five everyone I saw. As my sister pointed out, we're all a little slap-happy. Something wonderful and weird is happening.

J. J. Hardy, 2011 Topps Heritage #339

Well, there's nothing but an ongoing rain delay and two and one-half innings separating the Orioles from another long, lonely offseason. But even if the O's fall to Boston tonight, you certainly can't blame J. J. Hardy. In what looks like the masterstroke of Andy MacPhail's tenure, the general manager pried Hardy away from the Twins for Jim Hoey and Brett Jacobson. With a two-run homer tonight, the shortstop extended his career-high total to 30 roundtrippers and matched his personal best of 80 RBI. He's also walked and hit his 27th double, only 4 shy of his top total. He's pretty smooth with the glove, too. I can only imagine what he would have done if he hadn't missed a month with an oblique injury. Either way, I'm glad that the Birds signed him to a contract extension in midseason. J. J. is one of the few guys I would absolutely not want to be without in 2012.