American baseball player and manager (1944?2024)
Baseball player
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
|
|
September 2, 1965, for the New York Mets
|
|
October 5, 1980, for the Texas Rangers
|
|
Batting average
| .236
|
---|
Home runs
| 7
|
---|
Runs batted in
| 267
|
---|
|
---|
|
As player
As manager
|
|
|
Derrel McKinley
"
Bud
"
Harrelson
(June 6, 1944 ? January 11, 2024) was an American
professional baseball
shortstop
,
coach
and
manager
. He played for the
New York Mets
,
Philadelphia Phillies
and
Texas Rangers
from
1965
to
1980
. After his retirement as a player, he served as a coach for the 1986 Mets team that won the
World Series
, and as
manager
of the Mets in
1990
and
1991
. He was a coach and part-owner of the
Long Island Ducks
of the
Atlantic League of Professional Baseball
.
Harrelson was inducted into the
New York Mets Hall of Fame
in
1986
. 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 in
1969
and appeared in the
1973 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.
Early life
[
edit
]
Harrelson was born in
Niles, California
, on
D-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 in
Hayward, California
, where he attended
Sunset High School
, graduating in 1962.
[3]
[4]
He enrolled at
San Francisco State University
and, after one year, signed with the
New York Mets
as an amateur
free agent
in 1963.
[3]
Playing career
[
edit
]
New York Mets
[
edit
]
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 their
1969
championship season and
1973
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 lifetime
batting average
of .236 and hit a total of seven
home runs
during his 15-year major league career, but had a lifetime .969
fielding percentage
and won a
Gold Glove Award
at his position in
1971
.
[2]
He was a
National League
All-Star in
1970
and
1971
.
[2]
Amazin' Mets
[
edit
]
On May 28, 1969, after a five-game losing streak that saw the Mets fall into fourth place in the newly aligned
National 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 over
Steve Carlton
and the
St. 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, 24
RBI
and 42
runs scored
. He had a .969 fielding percentage in 119 games at shortstop.
[16]
1969 postseason
[
edit
]
Harrelson's two hits in the
1969 National League Championship Series
against the
Atlanta Braves
included a go-ahead
triple
in the fourth inning of the first game
[17]
and an RBI
double
in Game 2 of the Mets' three-game sweep.
[18]
Fight with Pete Rose
[
edit
]
Harrelson's light hitting became the subject of controversy during the
1973 National League Championship Series
. Mets
starter
Jon Matlack
held the
Cincinnati Reds
to two hits in his 5?0 complete game victory in Game 2 of the series at
Riverfront Stadium
.
[19]
Following the game, Harrelson commented, "He made the
Big Red Machine
look like me hitting today."
[20]
Harrelson was confronted by Reds
second baseman
Joe Morgan
during pregame warmups for Game 3 and warned that
Pete Rose
was unhappy with the quote.
[21]
In the fifth inning, Rose's hard slide hard into second base sparked a bench-clearing brawl. The game was nearly forfeited when the
Shea Stadium
crowd threw objects at Rose, causing manager
Sparky Anderson
to remove the team from the field until order was restored. Mets manager
Yogi Berra
and players
Willie Mays
,
Tom Seaver
,
Cleon Jones
and
Rusty Staub
walked to left field to attempt to calm the fans.
[22]
Phillies and Rangers
[
edit
]
After the Mets reacquired former #1 overall pick
Tim Foli
, Harrelson was traded to the
Philadelphia Phillies
for
Fred 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 the
Texas Rangers
in May after
Rusty Staub
broke a finger.
[25]
In
1986
, Harrelson was inducted into the
New York Mets Hall of Fame
.
[26]
Post playing career
[
edit
]
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 for
Steve Zabriskie
as a broadcaster on 60 Mets games covered by
WWOR-TV
.
[28]
Harrelson managed the
Little Falls Mets
in
1984
[29]
and was named the
New York-Penn League
manager of the year.
[30]
He managed the
Columbia Mets
of the
South Atlantic League
in
1985
.
[31]
When Mets
third base coach
Bobby Valentine
accepted a managerial position with the Texas Rangers during the 1985 season, Harrelson replaced him on
Davey Johnson
's coaching staff.
[32]
Harrelson was a coach with the Mets during their
1986 World Series
championship season and replaced Johnson following his dismissal as Mets manager 42 games into the
1990
season.
[33]
He led the Mets to their seventh consecutive winning season, finishing at 91?71.
[16]
During the 1990 season, Harrelson hosted a
WFAN
radio show called
The Bud Harrelson Report
but ended it early in the 1991 season because Harrelson felt that some of
Howie Rose
's questions were too negative.
[34]
Although the Mets were contenders for most of the first half of the
1991 season
and were as close as 2.5 games behind the eventual division-winning
Pittsburgh 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 coach
Mike Cubbage
.
[35]
The Mets finished in fifth place at 77?84.
[36]
[37]
[38]
In 2000, Harrelson became part-owner of the
Long Island Ducks
, a newly formed
independent 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]
Personal life
[
edit
]
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 the
Suffolk Sports Hall of Fame
on
Long Island
in the baseball category in 1992.
[43]
[44]
[45]
He appeared as himself in a
1999
episode of
Everybody Loves Raymond
along with several other members of the 1969 Mets.
[46]
Harrelson resided in
East Northport
and
Hauppauge
,
New York
.
[47]
Harrelson was diagnosed with
Alzheimer'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]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Goldstein, Richard (January 12, 2024).
"Bud Harrelson, 79, Shortstop For 1969 'Miracle Mets,' Dies"
.
The New York Times
. p. B11
. Retrieved
January 12,
2024
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
Bud Harrelson
at the
SABR Baseball Biography Project
, by Eric Aron, Retrieved 2013-07-18.
- ^
a
b
Thomas, Robert McG. Jr.
(May 30, 1990).
"A Crowd Pleaser, Harrelson Has a Bit of Fire"
.
The New York Times
. Retrieved
September 3,
2011
.
- ^
"The New Generation at Shortstop"
by Charles Dexter, from
Baseball Digest
, September 1967, page 5
- ^
"Trio To Go With Mets"
.
The Bangor Daily News
.
Associated Press
. September 1, 1965. p. 15 – via newspapers.com.
- ^
"Bud Harrelson, who anchored the New York Mets' infield..."
United Press International
. June 7, 1984
. Retrieved
January 12,
2024
.
- ^
"Bud Harrelson, scrappy Mets shortstop who once fought Pete Rose, dies at 79"
.
WABC-TV
. January 11, 2024
. Retrieved
January 12,
2024
.
- ^
Wallach, Jeff (May 28, 2016).
"From a Middling Infielder to a Kindred Spirit"
.
The New York Times
. Retrieved
January 12,
2024
.
- ^
"New York Mets 1, San Diego Padres 0"
. Baseball-reference.com. May 28, 1969.
- ^
"JAY DUNN: Remembering the Amazin' 1969 Mets, 50 years later"
.
The Trentonian
. July 10, 2019
. Retrieved
January 12,
2024
.
- ^
Boyle, Tim (July 13, 2023).
"The longest Mets winning streak in franchise history"
.
Rising Apple
. Retrieved
January 12,
2024
.
- ^
Bruschini, Evan (September 11, 2009).
"It Was the Summer of '69: When New York Mets Fans Were Happy"
.
Bleacher Report
. Retrieved
January 12,
2024
.
- ^
"New York Mets 6, St. Louis Cardinals 0"
. Baseball-reference.com. September 24, 1969.
- ^
Digiovanna, Mike (August 17, 2019).
"The 1969 World Series champion Mets remain Amazin' 50 years later"
.
Los Angeles Times
. Retrieved
January 12,
2024
.
- ^
Schoenfield, David (August 13, 2015).
"#TBT: The Miracle Mets of 1969 ... and 2015"
.
ESPN
. Retrieved
January 12,
2024
.
- ^
a
b
Golden, Michael (July 27, 2021).
"NY Mets: Looking back on the career of Bud Harrelson"
.
Rising Apple
. Retrieved
January 12,
2024
.
- ^
"1969 National League Championship Series, Game One"
. Baseball-reference.com. October 4, 1969.
- ^
"1969 National League Championship Series, Game Two"
. Baseball-reference.com. October 5, 1969.
- ^
"1973 National League Championship Series, Game Two"
. Baseball-reference.com. October 7, 1973.
- ^
Doyle, Al (2005).
"Bud Harrelson: the game I'll never forget"
.
Baseball Digest
. Retrieved
August 14,
2009
.
- ^
a
b
"Bud Harrelson remembers NLCS brawl with Pete Rose"
.
FOX Sports
.
- ^
James, Bill
(April 6, 2003).
The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract
. New York:
Free Press
. p. 643.
ISBN
0743227220
.
- ^
"Harrelson Bought By Phils,"
The Associated Press
(AP), Friday, March 24, 1978.
Retrieved March 14, 2023.
- ^
"Phillies clean their Easter basket by cutting four from team"
.
The Morning Call
. April 5, 1980. p. 26 – via newspapers.com.
- ^
"Rangers sign Bud Harrelson"
.
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
. May 7, 1980. p. 37 – via newspapers.com.
- ^
2010 Mets Yearbook P. 196
- ^
Steve Marcus (November 3, 1981).
"Harrelson Returns as a Mets Coach"
.
Newsday
. p. 80.
- ^
Lawrie Mifflin (June 21, 1983).
"TV SPORTS; MCCARVER PUTS LIFE INTO METS GAMES"
.
The New York Times
.
- ^
Writer, Staff.
"NY Mets Great Bud Harrelson Reflects On Managing Little Falls in 1984"
.
Utica Observer Dispatch
.
- ^
"Bud Harrelson, a former New York Mets shortstop who... ? UPI Archives"
.
UPI
.
- ^
"Former Mets shortstop Bud Harrelson was named manager of..."
UPI
.
- ^
Durso, Joseph; Times, Special To the New York (May 17, 1985).
"VALENTINE PICKED AS TEXAS MANAGER"
.
The New York Times
– via NYTimes.com.
- ^
Steve Berkowitz (May 30, 1990).
"Mets Replace Johnson"
.
Washington Post
.
- ^
Anderson, Dave (April 28, 1991).
"Sports of The Times; The Mets' Three Managers"
.
New York Times
. Retrieved
February 12,
2018
.
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.
- ^
"Mets fire Harrelson ? UPI Archives"
.
UPI
.
- ^
Briskin, Shale (March 11, 2011).
"New York Mets: The 10 Greatest Mets Managers of All Time"
.
Bleacher Report
. Retrieved
January 12,
2024
.
- ^
Malone, James (November 11, 2023).
"How New York Mets rookie managers have fared in year 1"
.
Rising Apple
. Retrieved
January 12,
2024
.
- ^
"1991 National League Standings & Expanded Standings"
.
Baseball-Reference.com
. Retrieved
January 12,
2024
.
- ^
Vecsey, George (May 5, 2000).
"Sports of The Times; Harrelson Now Pitching His Own Team"
.
The New York Times
– via NYTimes.com.
- ^
"Harrelson Is Hired"
.
The New York Times
. The Associated Press. February 25, 1997 – via NYTimes.com.
- ^
Ashmore, Mike.
"Somerset Patriots: Bud Harrelson, Long Island Ducks co-owner, reflects on time with 'Miracle Mets'
"
.
Courier News
.
- ^
"Ducks, fans honor Bud Harrelson with night to remember"
.
Newsday
. August 4, 2018.
- ^
"Harrelson, Bud"
.
Suffolk Sports Hall of Fame
. February 6, 2018
. Retrieved
January 12,
2024
.
- ^
"Buddy Harrelson, Suffolk Sports Hall of Famer, Dies at 79"
.
Suffolk Sports Hall of Fame
. January 11, 2024
. Retrieved
January 12,
2024
.
- ^
Krupinski, Joe (November 1, 1992).
"Hall of Fame"
.
Newsday
. p. 19
. Retrieved
January 12,
2024
.
- ^
"Everybody Loves Raymond: Season 3, Episode 19 ? Rotten Tomatoes"
.
Rotten Tomatoes
. Retrieved
January 12,
2024
.
- ^
"Bud Harrelson's time with the Ducks made him a Long Island legend"
.
Newsday
. January 12, 2024
. Retrieved
January 12,
2024
.
- ^
"New York Mets' Legend Bud Harrelson Opens Up About Living With Alzheimer's"
.
CBS New York
. May 20, 2018
. Retrieved
January 12,
2024
.
- ^
"Bud Harrelson, scrappy Mets SS who fought Pete Rose, dies at 79"
.
ESPN.com
. Associated Press. January 11, 2024
. Retrieved
January 12,
2024
.
External links
[
edit
]
|
---|
English announcers
| |
---|
Spanish announcers
| |
---|
English radio stations
| |
---|
Spanish radio stations
| |
---|
Television stations
| |
---|
Cable television
| |
---|
|
---|
Game coverage
| |
---|
Key figures
|
|
---|
Related articles
| |
---|