Kevin Richard Hart (born December 29, 1982) is a former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

who played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB) for the Chicago Cubs and Pittsburgh Pirates. As of , he is a Major League Professional Scout for the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...

Career

Hart attended Jesuit College Preparatory School of Dallas and played collegiately at the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of M ...

before being selected by the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...

in the 11th round (319th pick) in the 2004 Major League Baseball Draft. On December 7, 2006, Hart was acquired by the Chicago Cubs as the player to be named later in a trade that had sent Freddie Bynum to the Orioles a day earlier. When rosters expanded, he made his major league debut on September 4, , after being called up from the Double-A

Tennessee Smokies The Tennessee Smokies are a Minor League Baseball team based in Kodak, Tennessee, a suburb of Knoxville. The team, which plays in the Southern League, is the Double-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. They play at Smokies Stadium, directly off ...

that same day. Hart's debut came under difficult circumstances, as he was summoned to relieve

Will Ohman William McDaniel Ohman (born August 13, 1977) is a German–born American former professional baseball pitcher. He attended Ponderosa High school in Parker, Colorado. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Chicago Cubs, Atlanta Braves, L ...

in the 8th inning of a game against the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

with the bases loaded and nobody out. After

walking Walking (also known as ambulation) is one of the main gaits of terrestrial locomotion among legged animals. Walking is typically slower than running and other gaits. Walking is defined by an ' inverted pendulum' gait in which the body vaults ...

the first batter (former Cub Ramón Martínez) on 4 pitches to force in a run, Hart

struck out In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is denote ...

Mark Sweeney Mark Patrick Sweeney (born October 26, 1969) is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) first baseman who played for several teams from 1995 to 2008. He is best known for his skill as a pinch hitter, where he ranks second in career pinch h ...

, and

Rafael Furcal Rafael Antoni Furcal (born October 24, 1977) is a Dominican former professional baseball shortstop. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Atlanta Braves, Los Angeles Dodgers, St. Louis Cardinals, and Miami Marlins. With St. Louis, he ...

hit into an inning-ending double play. Hart gave up one

hit Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from '' Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust, or HIT, a fictional organization ...

in his second inning of work while also striking out

Jeff Kent Jeffrey Franklin Kent (born March 7, 1968) is an American former professional baseball second baseman. He played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1992–2008 for the Toronto Blue Jays, New York Mets, Cleveland Indians, San Francis ...

and

Andre Ethier Andre Everett Ethier (; born April 10, 1982) is an American former professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Los Angeles Dodgers from 2006 to 2017 and is second all-time in post-season appearances as a Do ...

, for a total of three strikeouts, one hit, and no runs in his two-inning Major League debut. Despite his inexperience, manager

Lou Piniella Louis Victor Piniella ( usually ; born August 28, 1943) is a former professional baseball player and manager. An outfielder, he played 16 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the Baltimore Orioles, Cleveland Indians, Kansas City Royals and ...

showed a willingness to use Hart as the Cubs progressed through the stretch run of a pennant race, and he appeared in several close games in September. He was impressive enough during his limited time to be chosen as one of the 11 pitchers on the team's playoff roster. Hart made 8 appearances in September's stretch playoff run. He held a 0.82 ERA with 11 innings pitched, 13 strikeouts, and held batters to a .189

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

. After spring training in 2009, he was sent to the Triple A Iowa Cubs. Hart made his first start of 2009, on July 8, against the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in Bos ...

Wrigley Field Wrigley Field is a Major League Baseball (MLB) stadium on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. It is the home of the Chicago Cubs, one of the city's two MLB franchises. It first opened in 1914 as Weeghman Park for Charles Weeghman's Chicago ...

. In that game, Hart pitched five innings and allowed only four hits and one run, but was the losing pitcher, as the Cubs lost 4–1. Hart was optioned to the

Single-A Class A, also known as Single-A and sometimes as Low-A, is the fourth-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States, below Triple-A, Double-A, and High-A. There are 30 teams classified at the Single-A level, one for each ...

Peoria Chiefs The Peoria Chiefs are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals. The team was established in 1983 as the Peoria Suns. They are located in Peoria, Illinois, and are named for the Peor ...

after the game in order to continue to pitch on his regular schedule while the Cubs were on the All-Star break. He was recalled on July 19. On July 19, 2009, Hart recorded his first career Major League hit and his first career RBI. During a 7-run 4th inning against the

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Nationals Park Nationals Park is a baseball stadium along the Anacostia River in the Navy Yard neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Home to Major League Baseball's Washington Nationals since its completion in 2008, it was the first LEED-certified green major profe ...

, Hart, squaring around as if to sacrifice bunt, pulled his bat back and lined a pitch from Garrett Mock into center field, driving in Mike Fontenot from second base, and thwarting the Nationals' defensive attempt to execute a wheel play. Hart would later score himself during the inning on a sacrifice fly by

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. Hart pitched five innings and recorded his first win of the 2009 season in that game, as the Cubs went on to win 11–3, completing a four-game sweep of the Nationals. On July 30, 2009, Hart was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates along with right-handed pitcher

José Ascanio José Eleazar Ascanio (born May 2, 1985) is a Venezuelan professional baseball pitcher who is currently a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball for the Atlanta Braves, Chicago Cubs and Pittsburgh Pirates. Ascanio Has Two Children Jord ...

and third baseman

Josh Harrison Joshua Isaiah Harrison (born July 8, 1987) is an American professional baseball infielder who is a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Detroit Tigers, Washington Nationals, Oakland Athletics and ...

for left-handed pitchers

John Grabow John William Grabow, nicknamed "Grabes" (born November 4, 1978) is an American former professional baseball left-handed reliever. He played for the Pittsburgh Pirates and Chicago Cubs of the Major League Baseball (MLB). In his MLB career, he he ...

and

Tom Gorzelanny Thomas Stephen Gorzelanny (born July 12, 1982) is a former American professional baseball pitcher who is currently the pitching coach for the minor league Amarillo Sod Poodles. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Pittsburgh Pirates, ...

. Just hours before the trade Hart started for the Cubs against the Houston Astros, he went six innings and gave up three earned runs while recording his third win of the season.Cubs acquire left-handed pitchers John Grabow and Tom Gorzelanny from Pittsburgh
Press Release, MLB.com He would go on to have shoulder surgery in May 2010 and spend all of the 2010 and 2011 seasons on the MLB disabled list. He missed the rest of the season and all of the 2011 season. In August 2012, Hart signed with the

Southern Maryland Blue Crabs The Southern Maryland Blue Crabs are an American professional baseball team based in Waldorf, Maryland. They are members of the North Division of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, an independent "partner league" of Major League Baseb ...

. He would retire from baseball after the 2012 season.

References

External links

, o
Chicago Tribune article
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Chicago Cubs press release
o
Play-by-play of Hart's debut
He went to Jesuit in Dallas, Tx. {{DEFAULTSORT:Hart, Kevin 1982 births Living people Aberdeen IronBirds players Baseball players from Cleveland Chicago Cubs players Delmarva Shorebirds players Frederick Keys players Indianapolis Indians players Iowa Cubs players Jesuit College Preparatory School of Dallas alumni Leones del Caracas players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Major League Baseball pitchers Maryland Terrapins baseball players Navarro Bulldogs baseball players New York Yankees scouts Peoria Chiefs players Pittsburgh Pirates players Southern Maryland Blue Crabs players Tennessee Smokies players University of Maryland, College Park alumni