Bud Harrelson, the shortstop on the Mets’ first two World Series teams and later the club’s manager for parts of two seasons, died Wednesday at a hospice home in East Northport on Long Island. Harrelson, who was 79 was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2016.
A good-field, no-hit player, Harrelson spent 15 years in the major leagues and was the starting shortstop on both the Miracle Mets’ 1969 world championship team which upset the Baltimore Orioles that October and their 1973 National League pennant winners who lost that year’s World Series to the Oakland Athletics in seven games.
His death was announced by the Mets in a new release on Thursday morning.
“We were saddened to learn of Mets Hall of Famer Buddy Harrelson’s passing,” Mets owners Steve and Alex Cohen said in the release. “He was a skilled defender and spark plug on the 1969 Miracle Mets. The Gold Glove shortstop played 13 years in Queens, appearing in more games at short than anyone else in team history. Buddy was the third base coach on the 1986 World Champs, becoming the only person to be in uniform on both World Series winning teams. We extend our deepest condolences to his entire family.”
Since 2000, Harrelson was affiliated with the independent league Long Island Ducks. He was their first manager, a member of their coaching staff and, at the time of his death, a vice president and part owner.
“The best thing I have ever done in baseball,” he said many times.
”Bud’s impact on Long Island will be felt through Ducks baseball for as long as we play,” Ducks owner and CEO Frank Boulton said in a news release Thursday. “He was my partner in bringing professional baseball to Long Island following his outstanding playing career in MLB and he made his mark on so many through his charitable giving, appearances and kindness. He was a one-of-a-kind human being, and he is missed greatly.”
The third-base coach on the Mets’ 1986 world championship team — that’s him following Ray Knight down the line as Knight scored the improbable winning run in the 10th inning of Game 6 — Harrelson replaced the fired Davey Johnson as manager in 1990 and coached the team until late in the 1991 season when he also was dismissed. He had an overall record of 145-129 as Mets manager when he was fired in the last week of that season.
“Words can’t describe & so saddened in hearing of the passing of #BudHarrelson,” Art Shamsky, Harrelson’s Mets teammate from 1968-71, wrote on social media. “A great teammate & friend & a huge part of the “Miracle” in #1969. His fight against Alzheimer’s is so inspirational. A true icon in #NYMets history. Prayers to his family & loved ones. RIP Buddy!”
Looking back: Mets legend Buddy Harrelson opened up on his Alzheimer’s fight
Buddy Harrelson waited anxiously in the offices of Dr. Max Rudansky, a Huntington-based neurologist who had asked the Mets legend for the list of troubling symptoms.
It was the summer of 2016 and words seemed to be disappearing from Harrelson’s vocabulary. He had difficulty finishing sentences and completing thoughts and often lost his place in a conversation. These weren’t new concerns: In 2013 the family had taken Harrelson to a different doctor, who attributed the decline to natural aging, stress and possibly depression.
But the red flags kept appearing. Harrelson started getting lost driving familiar routes. His ex-wife, Kim, was a car-length behind when Harrelson zoomed past a turn he’d taken a million times in his Hauppauge neighborhood. He then over-corrected by taking a sharp left from the far-right lane, nearly causing an accident.
Rudansky listened as Kim described the harrowing experience before Harrelson admitted this wasn’t the first time he’d become disoriented. In October 2015, Harrelson was driving to his condo in Venice, Fla., where he visited after every baseball season. It was an annual trek — he knew the roads by heart.
Except this time.
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It wasn’t until 2018, two years after his diagnosis, that Harrelson went public with his battle. But once he did he became active in the fight against Alzheimer’s, raising money and awareness.
“I didn’t know what it was,” he said in 2018. “I do now.”
Of course, Harrelson never backed down from a fight. A feisty competitor despite his size (5-foot-11, 160 pounds), Harrelson was probably best remembered for his fight with Pete Rose during Game 3 of the 1973 NLCS when Harrelson took exception to a hard slide into second base by the Cincinnati left fielder. Their skirmish in the swirling infield dirt at Shea Stadium led to a benches-clearing brawl.
“I popped off a little bit in Cincinnati after [Game 2],” Harrelson said. “Made a silly statement the Reds looked like me hitting. I didn’t think it was that bad. I was kinda putting myself down a little bit but I was also putting them down. Then I heard they were going to come after me. … I figured that was it right there and when he hit me after I had already thrown the ball I got mad. And we had a little match. He just kinda lifted me up and laid me down to sleep and it was all over.”
Harrelson was traded to the Phillies in 1978. Rose joined the team as a free agent the following season and the two became friends.
“I love that guy,” Harrelson told The Post in 2018. “He could beat you in so many ways, a really smart player, one of the best in the game. He signed a picture [of the fight] and wrote, ‘Thank you, Buddy. You made me famous.’ ”
Derrel McKinley Harrelson was born on D-Day, June 6, 1944 in Niles, Calif. and raised in nearby Hayward. He got the nickname Bud when his older brother Dwayne couldn’t pronounce Derrel and started calling him brother which evolved into Bud. It stuck.
Harrelson was a three-sport star in football, basketball and baseball despite weighing 97 pounds. With little interest from major league teams, he attended San Francisco State on a basketball scholarship but played only baseball. He batted .430 in 30 games.
“We played a top-notch schedule against schools such as Stanford, and soon the pro scouts were putting the rush on me,” Harrelson said nearly 50 years later. “I decided it was time to take advantage of that, and give pro baseball a shot.”
While the Yankees offered him the most money, the Cubs and Cardinals also showed interest. But the Mets were coming off their 40-120 first season and Harrelson, no dummy, sensed a strong opportunity for advancement. He signed with the Mets for a little more than $10,000, the day after Harrelson turned 19.
After a few minor league seasons, he made his Mets debut in September 1965 but began the following year at Triple-A Jacksonville where he met Tom Seaver. The two northern Californians — Seaver was from Fresno —would room together with the Mets from 1968 until Seaver was traded in 1977.
“We were perfect roommates,” Harrelson wrote in his book “Turning Two.” “Tom did all the reading and I did all the talking.”
Seaver died in August 2020 after battling dementia.
A lifetime .236 hitter, Harrelson made two All-Star teams (1970 and ‘71). He was the starting shortstop in that 1971 game when his NL teammates included Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Roberto Clemente, Willie McCovey, Johnny Bench and Willie Stargell, Hall of Famers all.
“Before the game I went out, shagged, took ground balls at shortstop, but I didn’t take batting practice,” Harrelson wrote. “With all those sluggers launching bombs, I figured nobody came to see me lay down three bunts and punch a couple of opposite-field loopers.”
After spending two seasons with the Phillies following his trade from the Mets, Harrelson finished his playing career in 1980 with the Texas Rangers. He managed in the Mets organization before joining Johnson’s major league staff midway through the 1985 season after Bobby Valentine left to become the manager of the Rangers.
Harrelson is survived by ex-wife Kim Battaglia, who remained his primary caregiver, his children Kimberly, Jessica, Timothy, Alexandra, Kassandra, Troy Joseph, and his grandchildren.
Christine Lake is a sports fanatic who lives and breathes athletics. With an extensive background in sports journalism, he covers everything from major league championships to grassroots sports events. When she’s not on the field or at the stadium, you’ll find Christine coaching youth sports teams.
