Buddy Harrelson - 1944 -2024

[metirish]

https://metsinsider.mlblogs.com/mets-hall-of-famer-buddy-harrelson-passes-away-350af94aee79https://metsinsider.mlblogs.com/mets-hall-of-famer-buddy-harrelson-passes-away-350af94aee79



Rest in peace, Bud

[metirish]

[metirish]

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

Whenever we drove through East Northport (we lived nearby) I'd look out the window in hopes of seeing Bud opening his mailbox or mowing his front lawn. Never happened, though.

[whippoorwill]

Aw, so long to one of my first favorites 😢

[Benjamin Grimm]

Sad, of course, but it sounds like he's been gone for a while. My grandmother lived the last nine years of her life not really knowing who anyone was. I was sad when she died, but not as sad as I would have been if she had still been herself.

[stevejrogers]

https://www.tcdb.com/List.cfm/lid/10175/New-York-Mets-Hall-of-Fame-Honorees-Buddy-Harrelson?C=0https://www.tcdb.com/List.cfm/lid/10175/New-York-Mets-Hall-of-Fame-Honorees-Buddy-Harrelson?C=0

[MFS62]

I liked him from the time I read about him in the Baseball Digest Rookie Reports.

Those were the days when a "strong up the middle" team had great defense at shortstop. And Buddy delivered.

RIP



Later

[kcmets]

One of my favorite Mets of all time. His rank between 2-5 fluctuates. The 1973

NL Championship Series was really the genesis of my lifetime obsession with the

Metropolitans.



I've probably posted this before (because that's what old Metropolitan fans do) but

when my Mom died in 1993 I needed a suit that fit better and we went to Macy's

in the Danbury Mall. Bud and Krane were promoting something, I forget maybe

it was Herman's or one of those other long-gone sporting goods stores, and I got

this. It means a lot to me because it was the first time I met a '69 Met plus the date.



RIP Derrel McKinley, I'm sure Tom and The Boys are waiting for you with a decanter

of the good stuff there will be a little reunion party.



https://thecranepool.net/images/buddy93.png>

[Edgy MD]

Somebody at the MOFo told a story of meeting Felix Millan. I think Felix had stopped him to ask for directions down in Florida or something, and ended the conversation by pointing to the guy's Mets hat and saying, "I used to play for the Mets. I played with Bud Harrelson."



Felix had a terrific baseball career. It was something to me that, of all things to sum up his Mets tenure, he went with 'I played with Bud Harrelson'."



Cool picture, KC.

[kcmets]

I was wondering maybe Felix and Bud were roomies on the road. What I

found out was that Bud and Seaver were road roomies. I don't think I knew

that until just NOW!!!

[smg58]

Calling him an iconic Met would be a massive understatement.

[Benjamin Grimm]

https://leaptoad.com/mets/clippings/00396.jpg>

[G-Fafif]

https://www.faithandfearinflushing.com/2024/01/11/the-spirit-of-the-mets/The spirit of the Mets.

[Benjamin Grimm]

https://www.artnet.com/WebServices/images/ll00188lldJaOGFgSTECfDrCWvaHBOceZCC/bruce-stark-bud-harrelson-playing-baseball-with-guitar-over-shoulder-(illus.-for-daily-news).jpg>

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

How do we assess his managerial career?

[Benjamin Grimm]

Poorly, I would think. With hindsight, does anyone think otherwise?

[G-Fafif]

Provided the spark that was needed in 1990 when Davey's voice was no longer getting through. It didn't last. In his his autobiography, he said he nevwr wanted the job and wished he could have stayed a coach indefinitely.

[smg58]

He was handed the wheel of a sinking ship. Obviously he didn't distinguish himself, but I'm not sure anybody else at that moment would have.

[ashie62]

Simply #3

[Edgy MD]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: Poorly, I would think. With hindsight, does anyone think otherwise?

His winning percentage seems to, for whatever that's worth.



My other cyber-memory of him was a member here (Soupcan?) reporting meeting him sitting in adjacent boxes in the field level seats at Shea and striking up a warm conversation. When Harrelson asked how he was recognized, our friend (again, Soupcan?) said that he spotted the profile immediately, and had his belief confirmed when he saw that Bud was wearing his championship ring.



Bud then amazingly offered the ring to our fellow poster to examine up close.



While our correspondent slipped the ring on and beheld it with awe, Harrelson spotted someone he knew and ran off to say hi, doubly amazingly leaving the ring behind with a stranger he had known all of a few minutes. When he returned, our correspondent asked Harrelson how in the world he could trust the ring with some rando in a seat next to him. Buddy shrugged and said, "That's my 1986 ring. I never would have let you touch the 1969 one."

[metirish]

Great story about Soupcan and Bud

[ashie62]

My best memory is being in the orthodontist's chair in 1973 when Buddy and Rose went at it salivary glands acting up and all in the chair



As iconic a Met as any



Lived many years with dementia apparently surrounded by those who loved him



I will miss him



Rip Buddy

[Frayed Knot]

=kcmets post_id=144853 time=1704996475 user_id=53]
What I found out was that Bud and Seaver were road roomies.

I don't think I knew that until just NOW!!!

[Edgy MD]

He strikes me as The King of the Ultimate Mets Database. How many people logged time as a Mets player, a Mets coach, a Mets manager, and a Mets broadcaster? He's clearly unique in this regard. The Mets version of the EGOT. Only Rusty Staub and maybe Yogi Berra come close, and not particularly. A Mets minor leaguer and a Mets opponent also.

Like Frayed Knot above, Gary Cohen makes a note of his inheriting his job from Roy McMillan. Like Bud later, McMillan would get a chance to take over the team mid-season in 1975.

[metirish]

[batmagadanleadoff]

Harrelson was a dais speaker at the Mets 50th anniversary symposium held at Hofstra University, where he shared this terrific comeback line: he would constantly get ribbed about his light hitting, almost non-existent HR power from well-meaning and maybe some not-so well-meaning fans - he hit just seven HR's in a 16 year career -- less than one HR every two years. And he would respond: "How many HR's did you hit in the majors?"

[MFS62]

he hit just seven HR's in a 16 year career -- less than one HR every two years. And he would respond: "How many HR's did you hit in the majors?"

His Baseball Digest Rookie Report said he had "Good Power for a shortstop". I still chuckle at that and remember to take all scouting reports with a grain of salt.

Later

[G-Fafif]

I watched Buddy offer his WS ring for trying on while he signed copies of his book at Hofstra. Three different women came up to me during the course of the conference and squealed with delight at slipping the bling onto their respective fingers as if he had done it just for them. The man knew his public.

[G-Fafif]