Hardy appeared in only three games during the 1975 season throwing 2.2 innings and ending up with a bloated earned run average of 13.50 without factoring in a decision.
It was a big come-down after a very nice rookie year in 1974 that saw him appear in 76 games, all but one out of the bullpen,going 9-4 for a bad Padre team, while posting a 4.69 ERA over 101.2 innings pitched, with two saves thrown in.
After getting traded to the Houston Astros over the Winter of 1975 for Doug Rader, Hardy’s luck didn’t improve as he would appear in 15 games out of the ‘pen, not factoring in a decision and pitching to an ERA of 7.06 over 21.2 innings.
Turns out those would be the last innings of his Major League career as he would go on to play another three years in the Astros’ Minor League system, but never making it back to a Big League mound again, finishing up with a career 9-4 record, with a 5.29 ERA over 94 appearances and 126 innings of work.
