Battles is a 45-year-old hard-nosed veteran cop who is forced to take a desk job or retire. Battles is soon assigned a new partner, the 25-year old hotshot Kaczierowski who follows his own set of rules when dealing with criminals. The pair are soon at odds over their respective methods of law enforcement. HARDBALL is an American crime drama television series that ran on NBC during the 1989-1990 television schedule.