Bud Harrelson, a scrappy shortstop with the New York Mets who was involved in a memorable brawl with Pete Rose during the 1973 National League playoffs, died Wednesday, the team announced. He was 79.
The Mets on Thursday said that Harrelson died at a hospice house in East Northport, New York, after a seven-year battle with Alzheimer’s disease, The Associated Press reported. He publicly shared his condition in 2018 to help others who had the condition.
Harrelson, who played in the majors from 1965 to 1980 -- he played 13 years with the Mets -- is the only member of the franchise to have been part of the team’s two World Series wins, MLB.com reported. He played shortstop for the 1969 “Miracle Mets” and was a third base coach for the 1986 World Series champs. He also played shortstop on the Mets’ 1973 National League pennant-winning squad that lost to the Oakland A’s in the World Series.
Rest in peace, Buddy. 🧡💙 pic.twitter.com/iBvmMMxqJ5
— New York Mets (@Mets) January 11, 2024
It was Harrelson’s grit that endeared him to Mets fans. During Game 3 of the 1973 NL Championship Series between the Mets and the Cincinnati Reds, Rose slid hard into Harrelson at second base on a double play.
The two players rose and began wrestling in the infield dirt at Shea Stadium, igniting a bench-clearing fight that spilled into the outfield, the AP reported.
Outweighed by more than 30 pounds, the 5-foot-11, 160-pounder did not win the fight against the equally scrappy Rose. But he did not back down, according to the cable sports network.
Mets fans threw objects at Rose in left field when play resumed and Cincinnati manager Sparky Anderson pulled the team off the field, MLB.com reported. Several Mets, including manager Yogi Berra, star pitcher Tom Seaver and outfielder Willie Mays, walked to the outfield and pleaded with the fans to stop.
“Being a little guy, I always wore a Superman T-shirt under my jersey,” Harrelson said, according to his biography on the Society for American Baseball Research website. “When the reporters came over after the game, I taped (an X) over the Superman logo and said, ‘It looks like Pete had a load of kryptonite today.’”
Harrelson later wrote in his 2012 memoir that he had no regrets about mixing it up with Rose.
“I did what I had to do to protect myself, and Pete did what he thought he had to do to try to motivate his team,” Harrelson wrote in “Turning Two: My Journey to the Top of the World and Back with the New York Mets.” “We fought and that was the end of it.
“I hit him with my best punch. I hit him right in the fist with my eye.”
Harrelson was known more for his defense than his bat. His career batting average was .236, according to Baseball-Reference.com.
Rose later played for the Philadelphia Phillies in 1978 and 1979 -- he and Rose were teammates in ‘79 -- and finished his playing career in 1980 with the Texas Rangers.
“In 1995, Pete and I did a card show together,” Harrelson wrote in his memoir. “And I got him to autograph a picture of the fight, which he did. He wrote: ‘Thanks for making me famous,’ and he signed his name.”
"He is one of the dearest people I've ever met in the game."
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) January 11, 2024
Ron Darling reacts to news that Mets Hall of Famer Bud Harrelson has passed away 🧡 pic.twitter.com/KBLH5Bp9xl
Harrelson later managed the Mets for parts of two seasons, carving out a 145-129 record in 1990-91, according to Baseball-Reference.com.
Derrel McKinley Harrelson was born on June 6, 1944 -- D-Day.
He attended San Francisco State University and was signed by the Mets as an amateur free agent in 1963, according to MLB.com. He made his debut in late 1965 and became the Mets’ starting shortstop in 1967.
After his major league career was over, Harrelson became a part-owner of the Long Island Ducks, managing the team during their inaugural season in 2000, according to MLB.com. He remained one of the team’s owners until his death.
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