Hardball, in English, more specifically American English, generally refers to
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 tea ...
(as opposed to its variant
softball
Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...
), especially when played very competitively. Metaphorically, it refers to uncompromising and ruthless methods or dealings, especially in
politics
Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...
and business negotiations: see
Glossary of English-language idioms derived from baseball#hardball, play hardball.
Computers
* ''Hardball'', a computer game made for the
Palm OS and similar to
''Breakout''
* ''
HardBall!'', a series of computer games about baseball
Films
*
''Hardball'' (film), a 2001 film with Keanu Reeves and Diane Lane
**
''Hardball'' (soundtrack), a soundtrack album from the film
* ''Hardball'', a 1997 film with
Tony Curtis
Tony Curtis (born Bernard Schwartz; June 3, 1925September 29, 2010) was an American actor whose career spanned six decades, achieving the height of his popularity in the 1950s (Kansas Raiders, 1950) and early 1960s. He acted in more than 100 f ...
Food
* Hardball, a
sugar stage
Candy making or candymaking is the preparation and cookery of Candy, candies and Sugar confectionery, sugar confections. Candy making includes the preparation of many various candies, such as Hard candy, hard candies, jelly beans, gumdrops, taff ...
in the making of candy and other confectionery
Literature
* ''Hardball — How Politics is Played Told By One Who Knows the Game'', a book by
Chris Matthews
Christopher John Matthews (born December 17, 1945) is an American political commentator, retired talk show host, and author. Matthews hosted his weeknight hour-long talk show, ''Hardball with Chris Matthews'', on America's Talking and later on M ...
, a political talk-show host
*
Hardball (comics), a superhero in the ''Avengers: The Initiative'' series from Marvel Comics
* ''Hardball'', a comic book series written by
Chuck Austen
*
''Hardball'' (novel), 2009 detective novel by
Sara Paretsky, part of the
V. I. Warshawski series
Sports
*
Hardball squash Hardball squash is a format of the indoor racquet sport squash which was first developed in North America in the late 19th century and early 20th century. It is sometimes referred to as being the "American version" of the sport. Compared to the "Br ...
, a racquet sport
* Hardball, a type of handball used in
Gaelic handball#Types of handball
* , an extreme shooting game utilizing
BB guns which fire metal projectiles
Television
* ''
Hardball with Chris Matthews'', a talk show on MSNBC hosted by Chris Matthews
* "
Hard Ball
"Hard Ball" (also known as "Negotiation") is the fifteenth episode of NBC's first season of ''30 Rock''. It was written by one of the season's co-producers, Matt Hubbard, and directed by one of the season's supervising producers, Don Scardino. I ...
", an episode of the television series ''30 Rock''
*
''Hardball'' (1989 TV series), a one-season 1989 crime drama television series that aired on NBC
*
''Hardball'' (1994 TV series), a 1994 television series, unrelated to the 1989 series, that aired on FOX
*
''Hardball'' (2019 TV series), an Australian children's TV series
* ''Hardball'', a BBC One game show hosted by
Ore Oduba
Fictional characters
* Hardball, of the alien Bounty Hunters working for Damocles and the Sword in the
Gen13 comics and the
Fire from Heaven crossover.
Other uses
*
Hardball (company), a Norwegian investment company.
* Hardball, a slang term used for
full metal jacket bullet
A full metal jacket (FMJ) bullet is a small-arms projectile consisting of a soft core (often lead) encased in an outer shell ("jacket") of harder metal, such as gilding metal, cupronickel, or, less commonly, a steel alloy. A bullet jacket usual ...
pistol ammunition, particularly in .45 ACP caliber
*
Hardball (G.I. Joe)
This is an alphabetical list of '' G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero'' characters who are members of the G.I. Joe Team. For Cobra characters, see ''List of Cobra characters''.
Ace
Agent Faces
Agent Faces is the G.I. Joe Team's infiltrator. H ...
, a fictional character in the G.I. Joe universe
{{disambiguation