A year's experience, and a healthy left shoulder, has made a world of difference for Brewers' shortstop J.J. Hardy thus far this season.
"My shoulder was still bothering me a little at the start of last season," said Hardy, who missed most of the 2004 season at Class AAA Indianapolis with a torn labrum. "Mentally, you also are a little tentative, but as the season went on I gained confidence.
"That's the biggest difference in this year and last - I'm healthy. Also, the year experience makes a big difference. Just spending a year here helps you know how to go about being a big leaguer."
At 23, Hardy is the most experienced of the Brewers' three heralded young infielders. A second-round draft pick in 2001, Hardy plays most nights with first baseman Prince Fielder, a top pick in 2002, and second baseman Rickie Weeks, who was Milwaukee's top pick and the second player chosen overall in 2003.
"I actually didn't play with them in the minors because I was ahead of them at different levels," Hardy said. "In spring training, they always put us together though, so I've played with them quite a bit. I think it has helped to have a core of young players come up and go through similar experiences."
Hardy works daily with the Brewers' bench coach, Hall of Famer Robin Yount, but he remembers when Robin was just "Dustin's dad."
"I played against Dustin (Yount's son) in high school," said Hardy, who went to Sabino High School in Tucson, Ariz. "I played with him on a couple of teams too. It's not like I was hanging out at their house all the time, but Dustin (who is in the Baltimore Orioles minor league system) and I did become pretty good friends.
"Now, here I am working with his dad as my coach. It's been great. He doesn't come across as the Hall of Famer when he's working with us. He is down-to-earth and brings things to very understandable terms when he's coaching us."
Some have compared Hardy with Yount at shortstop. "That is surreal," Hardy said. "I have a lot to learn yet, but that is flattering."
Yount said Hardy and the Brewers' other young players have been very willing students. "J.J. and the others work very hard," Yount said. "Sure, they make mistakes, just like we did when we were young. But, they work hard and are willing to learn and improve."
Hardy learned a lot as a rookie in 2005. After a very slow start at the plate, he picked up the pace considerably in the second half. In September, Hardy had a nine-game hitting streak, hit safely in 17 of his last 18 games and scored 19 runs in his last 22 games. He finished with a respectable .247 batting average and, more important, committed only 10 errors in 124 games.
In the first month of the season, Hardy has played solid defense at shortstop and settled into the No. 2 spot in the lineup, while maintaining his average around 260. He homered in the first inning of the home opener on April 3 and also was one of the Brewers who homered in the record-tying five homer inning on April 22.
Hardy comes from a very athletic family. His father was a tennis pro and his mother a pro golfer. Despite those bloodlines, baseball always has been Hardy's game. In high school, he was a three-time All State selection and a high school All American in 2001. He was a member of the USA Junior National Team that won the silver medal in Edmonton, Canada, in 2000. In 2003, Hardy played on the USA Olympic Qualifying team.
"All those experiences help you develop," Hardy said. "You were competing against some of the best young players from around the country."
After being drafted in 2001, Hardy split the season between the Brewers' Arizona Rookie League team and Class A ball in Ogden, Utah. He hit .293 in 2002 at Class A High Desert and was promoted to Class AA Huntsville.
He also played the 2003 season at Huntsville and then was promoted to AAA, but played in only 26 games at Indianapolis because of the shoulder injury. "I really kind of skipped Triple A because of the injury, but I was able to make it up once I got here last season," Hardy said.
From the start, Hardy has been looked to more for his glove than his bat. "I've always felt confident in my defense," he said. "You can go into slumps in the field, just like at the plate. I go two weeks sometimes where I feel like I haven't been picking up the ball smoothly. Then, you go through a streak where it all works together."
Hardy's double-play partner, Weeks, has had a rough few weeks in the field this season, but J.J. is confident Weeks will get it together.
"Rickie is a great athlete," Hardy said. "You make a couple errors and it can start to play on your mind a little. I think Rickie is working through some of that now. But, I'm confident he will figure it out and become a good all-round player."
In addition to Yount, coach Dale Sveum and the other coaches and manager Ned Yost, veteran players like Jeff Cirillo, Geoff Jenkins, Corey Koskie and others have gone out of their way to make Hardy and the other youngsters feel like true teammates.
Koskie, a newcomer to the Brewers from Toronto, picked up a dinner with the young players early in the season. Others have made themselves available for advice when the youngsters want it.
"Those guys have taken care of us, well beyond what they would need to do," Hardy said. "They've taken us to dinner and really extended to us. There is a great blend on this team of young players and veterans who are willing to work with us."
