Former Baltimore Orioles All-Star Angers Neighbors With Backyard Baseball Field
One former Baltimore Orioles All-Star player has angered his neighbors as he begins to build a baseball field in his backyard.
The famous baseball movie "Field of Dreams" suggests that if you build a baseball field, people will come.
That is not the case for a former Baltimore Orioles player as he began construction in his backyard to build a miniature baseball field that has landed him in a neighborly dispute.
J.J. Hardy spent seven seasons with the Orioles from 2011-17 when he was acquired in a trade from the Minnesota Twins and was a great player for them with his offensive bWAR value at 10.4 and his defensive bWAR at 10.9.
The shortstop was a Gold Glover three years in a row and earned an All-Star selection in 2013.
Now, Hardy is battling things off the field.
Jason Barry of Arizona Family spoke with his neighbor Pam Lang about the construction that has taken place and the complaint that she filed with Maricopa County.
"I didn't sign up to live next to a baseball field. It's like a commercial, like living next to Top Golf, you know," she said.
Lang told Barry that she didn't know a baseball field was going to be built until she saw poles going up at the beginning of construction.
"Everybody has a right to enjoy their own yard, but this is something that is beyond what is reasonable to expect your neighbors to tolerate ... It's very disappointing and frustrating that all I can an do is file a complaint and hope that somebody in the county feels like listening to me," she added.
The issue for her and the rest of the neighbors who feel similar is that there isn't much they can do because Hardy's house is located on a county island, while the other houses are in the city of Chandler.
However, Maricopa County officials told Arizona Family that Hardy has until April 22 to get the proper permits to finish building this baseball field or else some of it will have to come down.
It will be interesting to see how this progresses as the former Baltimore shortstop could get those required permits and finish the construction that has alienated his neighbors.
