| Bud Harrelson | |
|---|---|
 Harrelson as a New York Mets coach in 1986 | |
| Shortstop | |
| Born:(1944-06-06)June 6, 1944 Niles, California, U.S. | |
| Died: January 11, 2024(2024-01-11) (aged 79) East Northport, New York, U.S. | |
Batted: Switch Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| September 2, 1965, for the New York Mets | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| October 5, 1980, for the Texas Rangers | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .236 |
| Home runs | 7 |
| Runs batted in | 267 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Managerial record at Baseball Reference | |
| Teams | |
| As player As manager As coach | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
Derrel McKinley "Bud"Harrelson (June 6, 1944 – January 11, 2024) was an American professionalbaseballshortstop,coach andmanager. He played inMajor League Baseball (MLB) for theNew York Mets,Philadelphia Phillies andTexas Rangers from1965 to1980. After his retirement as a player, he served as a coach for the 1986 Mets team that won theWorld Series, and as manager of the Mets in1990 and1991. He was a coach and part-owner of theLong Island Ducks of theAtlantic League of Professional Baseball.
Harrelson was inducted into theNew York Mets Hall of Fame in1986. He was the only person to take part in both of the Mets' World Series championships and appear in the first three World Series for the team; he won in1969 and appeared in the1973 World Series as a player and in 1986 as a coach. Harrelson is also the only person in Mets history to have appeared in four playoff seasons: as a player in 1969 and 1973 and as a coach in 1986 and 1988.
Harrelson was born inNiles, California, onD-Day, June 6, 1944.[1] His nickname of "Bud" came from his younger brother, who had trouble saying his name and instead called him "brother", which was shortened to "Bud".[2] Harrelson was raised inHayward, California, where he attendedSunset High School, graduating in 1962.[3][4] He enrolled atSan Francisco State University and, after one year, signed with theNew York Mets as an amateurfree agent in 1963.[3]
The Mets promoted Harrelson to the major leagues on September 1, 1965,[5] and he made his debut with the Mets the following day.[2] Harrelson anchored the Mets' infield for 13 seasons, including their1969 championship season and1973 pennant-winning season.[6][7] Weighing only 165 pounds (75 kg), Harrelson received the nicknames of "Twiggy", "Mighty Mouse" and "Mini Hawk" from his teammates.[8] Typical of shortstops of his era, Harrelson was a good fielder but poor hitter. He had a lifetimebatting average of .236 and hit a total of sevenhome runs during his 15-year major league career, but had a lifetime .969fielding percentage and won aGold Glove Award at his position in1971.[2] He was aNational League All-Star in1970 and1971.[2]
On May 28, 1969, after a five-game losing streak that saw the Mets fall into fourth place in the newly alignedNational League East, Harrelson hit an RBI single that won the game,[9] beginning an 11-game team winning streak[10] and a record of 82–39 over the rest of the season.[11][12]
On September 10, the Mets jumped into first place for the first time in franchise history. On September 24, the team clinched the NL East with a 6–0 victory overSteve Carlton and theSt. Louis Cardinals.[13] The Mets won 38 of their last 50 games and finished the season with 100 wins against 62 losses, eight games over the second-place Cubs.[14][15] Harrelson batted .248 with no home runs, 24RBI and 42runs scored. He had a .969 fielding percentage in 119 games at shortstop.[16]
Harrelson's two hits in the1969 National League Championship Series against theAtlanta Braves included a go-aheadtriple in the fourth inning of the first game[17] and an RBIdouble in Game 2 of the Mets' three-game sweep.[18]
Harrelson's light hitting became the subject of controversy during the1973 National League Championship Series. MetsstarterJon Matlack held theCincinnati Reds to two hits in his 5–0 complete game victory in Game 2 of the series atRiverfront Stadium.[19] Following the game, Harrelson commented, "He made theBig Red Machine look like me hitting today."[20] Harrelson was confronted by Redssecond basemanJoe Morgan during pregame warmups for Game 3 and warned thatPete Rose was unhappy with the quote.[21]
In the fifth inning, Rose's hard slide into second base sparked a bench-clearing brawl. The game was nearly forfeited when theShea Stadium crowd threw objects at Rose, causing managerSparky Anderson to remove the team from the field until order was restored. Mets managerYogi Berra and playersWillie Mays,Tom Seaver,Cleon Jones andRusty Staub walked to left field to attempt to calm the fans.[22]
After the Mets reacquired former #1 overall pickTim Foli, Harrelson was traded to thePhiladelphia Phillies forFred Andrews and cash on March 23, 1978.[23] Rose and Harrelson became teammates with the Phillies but did not discuss the fight.[21] The Phillies released Harrelson before the start of the 1980 season.[24] Harrelson signed with theTexas Rangers in May after Rusty Staub broke a finger.[25]
In1986, Harrelson was inducted into theNew York Mets Hall of Fame.[26]
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After his retirement, Harrelson joined the Mets' coaching staff as a first-base coach and infield instructor for the 1982 season.[27] During the 1983 season, Harrelson substituted forSteve Zabriskie as a broadcaster on 60 Mets games covered byWWOR-TV.[28] Harrelson managed theLittle Falls Mets in1984[29] and was named theNew York–Penn League manager of the year.[30] He managed theColumbia Mets of theSouth Atlantic League in1985.[31] When Metsthird base coachBobby Valentine accepted a managerial position with the Texas Rangers during the 1985 season, Harrelson replaced him onDavey Johnson's coaching staff.[32]
Harrelson was a coach with the Mets during their1986 World Series championship season and replaced Johnson following his dismissal as Mets manager 42 games into the1990 season.[33] He led the Mets to their seventh consecutive winning season, finishing at 91–71.[16] During the 1990 season, Harrelson hosted aWFAN radio show calledThe Bud Harrelson Report but ended it early in the 1991 season because Harrelson felt that some ofHowie Rose's questions were too negative.[34]
Although the Mets were contenders for most of the first half of the1991 season and were as close as 2.5 games behind the eventual division-winningPittsburgh Pirates, the team collapsed in the second half and Harrelson was fired with a week remaining in the season and replaced by his third base coachMike Cubbage.[35] The Mets finished in fifth place at 77–84.[36][37][38]
In 2000, Harrelson became part-owner of theLong Island Ducks, a newly formedindependent league baseball team.[39] He managed the Ducks in 2000, their inaugural season,[40] and became a coach for Ducks home games in their second season.[41] The Ducks retired Harrelson's uniform number 3 in 2018.[42]
Harrelson married his first wife Yvonne on December 17, 1965. They later divorced, and Harrelson married Kim Battaglia in 1975. His children are Kimberly, Timothy, Alexandra, Kassandra and Troy Joseph.[2] Harrelson was inducted into theSuffolk Sports Hall of Fame onLong Island in the baseball category in 1992.[43][44][45] He appeared as himself in a1999 episode ofEverybody Loves Raymond along with several other members of the 1969 Mets.[46] Harrelson resided inEast Northport andHauppauge,New York.[47]
Harrelson was diagnosed withAlzheimer's disease in 2016 and publicly disclosed his diagnosis in 2018.[48] He died at a hospice in East Northport, New York on January 11, 2024, at age 79.[49]
Bud Harrelson, the sensitive incumbent, has canceled his pre-game WFAN radio show because he believes some of announcer Howie Rose's questions were too negative.
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