Jason Hardtke was a utility infielder who didn't quite have the skills to play shortstop. The latter part of that sentence really limited Hardtke's potential. Had he been able to play shortstop, he may have gotten more of a chance to prove himself at the major league level. Unfortunately, Hardtke's time in the big show was sporadic and limited.
1998 was Hardtke's third straight season with major league experience, the first two with the New York Mets. He spent the majority of the year at AAA, playing for the Iowa Cubs where he sprayed the ball all over the field with a .288/.361/.453 line.
His time in Chicago was less impressive as he failed to record a single extra base hit leading to a very empty .238 average. And although he only had two RBI on the season, he used one of those to make a huge impact.
The Cubs were in a battle with the Florida Marlins. Legendary aces Mark Clark and Brian Meadows were having one of their world-famous pitching duels. The Marlins broke through in the fourth inning when perennial All-Star snub, Todd Dunwoody, led off the inning with a double before Cliff Floyd knocked him in for a one-run lead.
The Cubs refused to go down easy as in the sixth inning, Cubs legend, Brant Brown, took Meadows deep to tie the game. After that, the runs stopped as each starter lasted eight innings while giving up just a single run. The Cubs turned to Terry Adams who immediately walked Gregg Zaun to start off the inning. Craig Counsell bunted Zaun over to second base to put a runner in scoring position with just one out. The Marlins turned to pinch hitter Ryan Jackson, but he was no match for Adams as he struck out in his lone at bat. Still, this led to Dunwoody. Somehow, possibly by an act of God, Adams induced a ground out from the Marlins stud.
This led to the bottom of the ninth. Felix Heredia was tasked with taking over for Meadows. He wasted no time in making the home town crowd sweat when he struck out early game hero, Brant Brown, with a pitch that froze him with nothing but a bat on his shoulder and a look of dejection in his eyes. But things turned around with the next batter as Mickey Morandini managed an infield hit. This was followed by the big slugger, Sammy Sosa, improbably also getting an infield hit. The Marlins chose not to challenge Mark Grace and intentionally walked the bases loaded instead.
The Cubs sent Terrell Lowery up to the plate, but the Marlins countered with stud reliever, Jay Powell. This led the Cubs to counter the counter and send up who? You guessed it, Jason Hardtke, up to the plate. In what was surely a battle for the ages, Hardtke eventually got the better of Powell as he singled up the middle to drive home the winning run.
Hardtke played about six more weeks before the Cubs sent him back to Iowa. He would never make the major leagues again. Hardtke is an example of when a stat line doesn't tell the whole story. Clutch may or may not be a real thing, but when the Cubs needed him, Hardtke came through when it mattered most. In a year where the Cubs needed every win they could get, it's important to remember the contributions of guys like Hardtke that helped lead to such a magical season.
In case you missed it:
Introduction
#47 - Matt Karchner
#46 - Jose Nieves
#45 - Rodney Myers
#44 - Justin Speier
#43 - Tony Fossas
#42 - Kennie Steenstra
#41 - Chris Haney
#40 - Bob Patterson
#39 - Pedro Valdes
#38 - Derrick White
#37 - Ben Van Ryn
#36 - Terrell Lowery
#35 - Don Wengert
#34 - Kurt Miller
#33 - Jason Maxwell
#32 - Kevin Foster
#31 - Mike Morgan
#30 - Felix Heredia
#29 - Jeff Blauser
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