Why We Love: J.J. Hardy

Hello, friends. My name is Ted, and predominantly I write over at A Price Above Bip Roberts, but occasionally I do some guest work for Neate here.

To say my life is a joke wouldn't even do the situation justice, so in an effort to improve my stock, I like to write on other people's blogs (I figure if nothing else, it passes the time, no?). I was doing this weekly Sunday feature for Baseball Nation for a couple of weeks in April called "Why We Love," but then it seemed to slow down (the entire site, although it's still good).

So, I asked Neate if I could bring it over yonder, and he said sure, at least on a trial basis.
Here's the basic principle: every Sunday (or Monday, depending on how my weekend dissolves in front of my very face), we'll take a look at a player in Major League Baseball. Hopefully, it will always be a player of some relevance who has done well across the past week. We'll try to avoid the big names - ARod and Jeter, Vlad and Nomar, even Derrek Lee - in favor of guys you probably know less about. In the process, we hope to convince you that you should love them, just like we do.

Alright, here goes nothing. Subject No. 2: J.J. Hardy.

For as much as everyone wants to bury the Brewers right now - and there are reasons to do so, considering the team has lost four games in a row currently - let us not forget they still have a five-game lead in the less-than-competitive NL Central, with their closest competition being the erratic Chicago Cubs.

A major reason - perhaps the major reason - for a diamond renaissance in Milwaukee has been J.J. Hardy. A shortstop who played second fiddle in the Brew Crew's infield to Rickie Weeks as recently as two months ago, Hardy has absolutely exploded this season, currently sitting on 15 HR, 43 RBI, and a .308 average. While Prince Fielder, Weeks, and other offensive forces on the Brewers have been doing pretty well, Hardy has been sending Bernie Brewer down that yellow slide on his arse more than he ever could have hoped.

If that's not enough to love him - you know, potentially being the savior of a great baseball city (Miller Park is annually rated as one of the best ballparks in America) - there are a few other reasons. Consider:

- Love him because he's a Baby Brewer. Like Prince (ever hear of Cecil?) and Tony Gwynn Jr (I think you know his dad), Hardy is the son of two athletes: a golfer mom and a tennis playing daddy. If the Brewers do make the postseason, will the comparisons to Florida's threesome of Joakim Noah (Yannick), Al Horford (Tito), and Taurean Green (Sidney) be unavoidable?

- Love him because like all the great ones, he perseveres. Hardy sat out 2004 in the minors because of a dislocated shoulder and torn labrum; in July of last season, he was put down for the year by the Brewers because of injuries sustained in a May home plate collison with Sal "Should be a porn star" Fasano of the Phillies. After essentially missing the better part of two full seasons across the past three, Hardy is currently a leading candidate for the NL MVP Award as we near the halfway mark of the season.

- Love him because he might do the unthinkable: replace a legend. I've never been to Milwaukee (although I do like the Bucks a great deal...), and I can't speak to their sports culture very much, but I would assume replacing Robin Yount in Beer and Brats Land is equivalent to replacing Jeter in New York, minus all the national media scrutiny. I don't think the Brewers have really had a tremendously successful SS since Yount - maybe Pat Listach, although that comparison might also be considered sacreligious - and Hardy is becoming that guy.

- Love him because he's earth shatteringly hip. Hardy, along with teammates Bill Hall, Jeff Suppan, and Chris Capuano, will appear in an episode of The Young and the Restless (an apt description of the team itself) on June 20th.

- Love him because he did it differently. Hardy went to Sabino High School in Tucson, AZ, which is far better known for its football performances - three state titles since 1990 - than baseball, in which it has the 1997 Arizona state title to its name. Hardy, though, was a star in a different season and on a different field, but is probably better known than any athlete to emerge from Sabino over time.