Bud Harrelson, 1944-2024

The New York Mets have won the World Series twice. there were 3 men in uniform both times. but only one man wore. A mixed uniform both times.

Derrel McKinley Harrelson was born on June 6, 1944 -- D-Day -- in Fremont, California, in the East Bay. He grew up in nearby Hayward, and was a baseball teammate of another future major leaguer, Ed Sprague Sr., whose son also played in the majors. Like so many other boys, he had a sibling, in his case an older brother named Dwayne, who couldn't pronounce "brother" and it came out "Bud," and he was called Bud for most of his life.

Bud Harrelson was signed by the Mets in 1963, and made his major league debut on September 2, 1965. In the bottom of the 8th inning, wearing the Number 3 that he would wear for the entirety of his tenure as a Met player, he was sent to 1st base to pinch-run for fellow shortstop Roy McMillan, did not advance, and then took over at shortstop for the 9th inning, and did not come to bat. Despite scoring 2 runs in the bottom of the 9th, the Mets lost to the Houston Astros, 4-3 at Shea Stadium.

Bud appeared in 19 games in 1965, and 33 in 1966, before becoming the Mets' regular shortstop in 1967, holding the position for 11 seasons. These included 1969, when the Mets stunned the sports world by rising from 7 seasons of laughable performance to win a "miracle" World Series; and 1973, whent he Mets won another Pennant. He was never much of a hitter, batting .236 for his career, but had good speed, and was good on defense, winning a Gold Glove in 1971. He was named to the National League All-Star Team in 1970 and '71.

He is best known for what happened in Game 3 of the NL Championship Series, on October 8, 1973. The Mets beat the Cincinnati Reds, 9-2 at Shea Stadium, in a game that should have been remembered for Rusty Staub hitting home runs in the 1st and 2nd innings.

Instead, it is remembered for 5-foot-11, 200-pound Pete Rose breaking up a double play by crashing into 5-foot-11, 140-pound Bud Harrelson, and then starting a fight with the much thinner man.

With the fight broken up, Rose returned to his position in left field, where Met fans (understandably angry, but they were hardly justified in their actions) started throwing things at him. Reds manager Sparky Anderson took his team off the field, fearing for their safety.

The umpires got a message to Loren Matthews, the Shea public address announcer, who announced that if the throwing didn't stop, the game would be forfeited. The series was tied 1-1 and the Mets, barring a total (or even, dare I say it, Metlike) collapse, had this game won, and needed only 1 more win for the Pennant. Lose it, even by forfeit, and it would be the Reds who were just 1 game from the Pennant.

Desperate, Met manager Yogi Berra took Tom Seaver and Willie Mays out there, and the 3 of them pleaded for peace. Listening to the 3 New York baseball legends, the fans stopped, and the Mets finished off the win.

The next day, with a banner hanging from Shea's upper deck reading, "A ROSE BY ANY OTHER NAME STILL STINKS" -- I guess they weren't willing to say "Sucks" in public in 1973 -- Rose made his point by winning the game and tying up the series with an extra-inning home run. But the Mets won Game 5 and the Pennant, before losing the World Series to the Oakland Athletics.

In Spring Training of 1978, the Mets traded him to the Philadelphia Phillies for 2nd baseman Fred Andrews, who, as it turned out, had already played the last of his 16 major league games. Reunited with a former Met teammate, relief pitcher Tug McGraw, he helped the Phils win the 1978 NL Eastern Division title, but was not included on the Playoff roster, and was released in Spring Training 1980, denying him a shot at their World Series win that season. He signed with the Texas Rangers, played the 1980 season with them, and retired.

He joined the Mets' coaching staff in 1982, switched to their broadcasting staff in 1983, then managed the Class A Little Falls Mets in 1984, being named New York-Penn League's Manager of the Year. He began the 1985 season managing the Class A Columbia Mets (South Carolina) in the South Atlantic League, and was promoted to 3rd base coach when Bobby Valentine was hired to manage the Rangers.

The Mets won the World Series again in 1986, with Harrelson as 3rd base coach, wearing Number 23. It made him the only man in a  Met uniform for each Met World Series win. There were 2 other men in uniform for both. In 1969, Tom Seaver was the Mets' ace, and Davey Johnson made the last out for the Baltimore Orioles. In 1986, Johnson was the Mets' manager, and Seaver was running out the string with the Boston Red Sox, though he was injured and did not appear in the Series.

Harrelson was still the Mets' 3rd base coach in mid-1990, when Johnson was fired. He led them to a 2nd place finish. They stuck close to the Pittsburgh Pirates for much of the 1991 season, but fell apart late, and was fired. 

He married his first wife, Yvonne, on December 17, 1965. They later divorced, and Harrelson married Kim Battaglia in 1975. He had 6 children: Kimberly, Jessica, Timothy, Alexandra, Kassandra, and Troy. From the time he made it with the Mets, he lived in Hauppauge (pronounced HOP-awg), Long Island, New York. He was involved in several Long Island-based charities, and became part-owner and, for a time, manager of the Long Island Ducks, of baseball's independent Atlantic League, based in Central Islip. He appeared as himself in a 1999 episode of the Long Island-based sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond, along with several other members of the 1969 Mets.

He attended the anniversary celebrations for the 1969 team in 1994, 1999 and 2009; for the 1973 team in 2003, 2008 and 2013; the closing ceremony for Shea Stadium in 2008, and the opening ceremony for Citi Field in 2009. But in 2016, he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. He died yesterday, January 10, 2024, at a nursing home in Northport, Long Island, New York. He was 79 years old.

It's been suggested, especially by Met fans, that the Yankees have "devalued" Monument Park with some of their inclusions. Let the record show that the New York Mets Hall of Fame inducted Bud Harrelson, while Monument Park does not contain a Plaque for Bucky Dent, who won more, and did more to achieve that winning.

With his death, there are now 18 surviving players from the 1969 World Champion New York Mets: Pitchers Nolan Ryan, Jerry Koosman, Gary Gentry, Ron Taylor, Jim McAndrew and Jack DiLauro; catchers Jerry Grote, J.C. Martin and Duffy Dyer; 1st baseman-outfielder Ed Kranepool; 2nd basemen Al Weis and Ken Boswell; 3rd basemen Wayne Garrett and Bobby Pfeil; left fielder Cleon Jones; right fielders Ron Swoboda and Art Shamsky; and outfielder Rod Gaspar. Jones, Swoboda, Grote and Koosman are the last 4 who played in the clinching Game 5.