Converse of object

• play: He wants to play hardball on union negotiations, well he has come up with someone who knows how the game is really played.

Adjective modifier

• political: WASHINGTON -- It took a dose of political hardball in Congress nearly two decades ago to launch Boston's Big Dig.

Modifies a noun

• tactic: Indeed, the Mainline churches are facing hardball tactics.

• game: By 1929 official court plans were being sold by the USSRA and the hardball game was brought into controlled growth.

• negotiator: Never go head-to-head with a hardball negotiator because you will always lose.

• event: The US Open was first held in 1954 as a mixed professional and amateur hardball squash event.