Bud Harrelson Leaves the Earthly Mets’ Roster at 79 (photoessay and videos)

By Grand Rapids Anonymous
Friday, January 12, 2024 at 12:00:00 p.m. est

A prematurely gray Bud Harrelson, with his wife Kim and the kids, during his brief, unsuccessful managerial stint with the Mets, in 1990

“(athletic) Bud Harrelson, stalwart shortstop for the ‘69 Mets and the only person in uniform for both of their championships, passed away thursday from Alzheimer’s at the age of 79.

“After signing with the Mets in 1963, he became their opening day shortstop in 1967—and stayed there for 11 seasons.

Buddy made the cover of the September 7, 1970 Sports Illustrated

“Harrelson’s worth was maybe clearest in 1973 when the ‘Ya Gotta Believe’ Mets surged from last place to first place in the final five weeks of the season.

“Harrelson had missed a month that summer, which coincided with the team’s deepest struggles of the season. His return helped catalyze the Mets’ comeback.

“And of course, his most memorable moment as a Met came that fall, in Game 3 of the 1973 National League Championship Series, when he and Pete Rose brawled after Rose slid hard into second base on a double play. The slight Harrelson taking on Rose served as a microcosm for the underdog Mets’ performance against the heavily favored Reds, whom they upset in five games to win the pennant.

“‘That’s a good game for me to sit around and think about,’ Harrelson told Newsday in 2008. ‘I don’t remember the score, but I remember every little thing about the fight.

“‘He wasn’t a big guy, but he was a fierce competitor. He was a battler,’ [teammate and outfielder Art] Shamsky said. ‘He was the consummate team player.’”

--GRA

“Gary Cohen pays tribute to Bud Harrelson: ‘He was my personal hero’ | SNY





N.S.: Buddy Harrelson dead at 79?! That’s impossible!

Hall-of-Famer Tom Seaver may have been “the Franchise,” and by far the greatest player the Mets ever had, but Bud Harrelson was the heart and soul of that team. He was the ultimate good field-no hit guy, for whom present-day baseball has no place, but who was integral to the Mets winning two pennants and one World Series. Great bunter. (Remember that? The bunt?)

Buddy's kind of "slugging"

Scrappy. That was Buddy, who was born on D-Day, and who died yesterday.

Now, I won’t tell you I have memories of him playing. I watched the Mets on TV, beginning in 1968, but that was too long ago. I remember Harrelson via stories I’ve read and heard, mostly about him (maybe 5’8” and 147 lbs.) coming up swinging on Pete Rose (6’0,” and a very solid 200 lbs.), when Rose slid into him hard at second.

Left to right: Tom Seaver, his roommate and friend Buddy Harrelson, Mets owner Mrs. Joan Payson and Nancy Seaver

As shocked and upset as I was when Seaver (1944-2020) died, I’m more upset over Harrelson. The biggest shock regarding Seaver was when he couldn’t join in the 2019 celebration of the 50th anniversary of Gil Hodges’ Miracle Mets’ 1969 World Series championship over Earl Weaver’s Baltimore Orioles, one of the greatest teams ever to play on paper. Seaver’s absence in 2019 partially prepared me for his death the following year, but only partially.

I just checked out Harrelson’s stats at Baseball Reference, and they were even more underwhelming than I expected. In parts of 16 seasons, he knocked in a grand total of 267 runs, and scored only 539! The slugger hit all of seven home runs—not in a season, but over his entire career! He hit for a lifetime batting average of .236, and a slugging percentage of .288! And although he stole only 127 bases, careerwise, while getting caught 60 times, he had two big seasons running the bases—1971, when he stole 28 bases, and was caught seven times, and 1970, when he swiped 23 bases, while getting caught only four times. And he was awarded a Gold Glove for his fielding prowess at shortstop in 1971, while being named to the All-Star team in ‘70 and ‘71, and getting some MVP votes both seasons. But none of the foregoing adequately expresses his value to the Mets.

BR also claims that he stood 5’11,” and weighed 160. Maybe while standing on a scale, in uniform and spikes, with his glove, sopping wet!

Fare thee well, Buddy. Maybe we’ll see you some day, on The Afterlife Tonight Show!


The 1969 New York Mets Players Sing “You Gotta Have Heart” on The Ed Sullivan Show