Carroll Hardy was a reserve player during his time in the Major Leagues, being an occasional outfielder with statistics of having participated in 433 games, had 1,260 appearances in the pentagon, exhausted 1,117 shifts, shot 252 hits, of these 47 doubles, 10 triples and 17 home runs, hitting a .225 career average.
But, history points to this player as the only one who pinch-hit for Ted Williams in the brilliant career of this star, one of the best hitters of all time. That opportunity presented itself to Hardy when the Boston Red Sox, on Tuesday, September 20, 1960, visited the city of Baltimore and in one of the last Williams games of his career, which ended that same year, when he was exhausting his first turn in the first inning he hit a foul and the ball hit his right ankle and he could not continue in the game due to severe pain, which did not allow him to continue and in this way Hardy entered his place and became the only player to bat for Williams.
On Wednesday, May 31, 1961, this same Hardy pinch hit for rookie Carl Yastrzemski, another of the iconic players in Boston history for this being the only time someone hit for him and you know that Hardy hit his first home run on Sunday, May 18, 1958, pinch-hitting for Roger Maris?