J.J. Hardy is one of the longest-tenured Orioles and that tenure will, in all likelihood, be coming to an end at the conclusion of the season. That makes Sunday afternoon the last chance that Hardy will get to play in front of the Camden Yards crowd that has watched him for the past seven seasons.
Hardy may have only made it into the lineup at all due to the hamstring issue that cropped up with Tim Beckham late in Saturday night’s game. Whether or not that’s the case, he’s playing, and that meant a chance to give him a little salute for his Orioles tenure in his first at-bat.