Miracle Met Bud Harrelson leaves behind legacy that extends well beyond the baseball field | Zendytimes.com

Bud Harrelson will beryllium remembered for galore things.

Teammates retrieve really overmuch he loved playing for nan Mets. A slick-fielding shortstop connected nan 1969 Miracle Mets World Series team, Harrelson played pinch pride, passion and pinch an separator to his game. When nan erstwhile Mets infielder and head died astatine 79 aft a conflict pinch Alzheimer’s illness earlier this month, nan tributes came pouring successful from each complete nan shot world.

Even Pete Rose paid tribute to Harrelson, remembering him arsenic a “good guy.” Harrelson, a smaller, scrappier player, infamously took connected baseball’s arguable deed king during nan 1973 NLCS, starting a scuffle that led to a benches-clearing brawl astatine Shea Stadium.

Fans retrieve Harrelson arsenic an affable, friends face. He sat for agelong lines of autographs and he posed for photos pinch kids. Born Derrel McKinley Harrelson, nan nickname “Buddy” was apt since everyone who met him felt for illustration he was their buddy.

“Bud was nan aforesaid friends giving individual whether you met him astatine nan ballpark aliases nan state station,” Frank Boulton, his longtime business partner pinch nan Long Island Ducks, told nan Daily News.

Make nary mistake, while overmuch of his profession came successful Queens, his power went acold beyond. It extended to those he helped get backmost into affiliated shot and it extended to different families affected by Alzheimer’s, pinch nan Harrelson family having helped to raise $61,000 for nan Walk to End Alzheimer’s.

With nan Mets, Harrelson played successful 2 World Series (1969 and 1973) and coached successful different (1986). He managed Mets affiliates successful nan 1980s and successful nan large leagues erstwhile was named nan successor to Davey Johnson successful 1990. It was this acquisition that became cardinal for Harrelson a decade later.

A autochthonal of nan San Francisco Bay Area, Harrelson made his location connected Long Island and it genuinely did go a location for him. This is why Harrelson brought nan Ducks to Long Island and why, aft receiving his test successful 2016, he helped raise money for nan section section of nan Alzheimer’s Association.

While his accomplishments later successful life whitethorn look for illustration a footnote compared to his illustrious Major League career, to him, it was his legacy.

“Bud, connected galore occasions, claimed nan Ducks were nan champion point he ever did successful master baseball,” Boulton said. “I genuinely judge nan relationship pinch our instrumentality guidelines was nan driving factor. He loved to prosecute pinch our fans.”

Bud Harrelson

Boulton founded nan Atlantic League successful 1998, not agelong earlier he was connected pinch Harrelson.

Independent leagues person travel and gone passim nan years, but nan Atlantic League has seen sizeable success. It tin often beryllium seen arsenic a past extremity of sorts for players who are incapable to get contracts pinch affiliated teams, but it’s overmuch much than that. Players person parlayed Atlantic League contracts into 2nd chances astatine affiliated ball, aliases moreover a 2nd chance successful nan large leagues.

The convention now useful pinch MLB to trial caller rules and has moreover welcomed women onto its teams.

Harrelson’s first foray into insignificant convention ownership was pinch Boulton. A erstwhile trader from Brightwaters, Boulton was introduced to Harrelson successful 1991. He antecedently owned 2 insignificant convention teams affiliated pinch nan Yankees and Harrelson expressed liking successful insignificant convention ownership. The 2 purchased nan Peninsula Pilots, a Class-A Carolina League team, and relocated it to Wilmington Delaware.

Boulton and Harrelson would talk astir their desire to bring a insignificant convention squad to Long Island connected car rides up from Delaware to New York.

“Bud and I, connected rides backmost and distant to Wilmington, knew that if we could bring master shot to Long Island it would beryllium successful,” Boulton said. “And 24 years later and 9 cardinal fans done our gates, we accomplished our extremity of bringing affordable family intermezo to our friends and neighbors connected Long Island.”

Harrelson took awesome pridefulness successful bringing a value merchandise to his location erstwhile nan squad was founded successful 2000. He was nan Atlantic League’s first president and nan Ducks’ first manager, helping to bring credibility to an emerging team.

Harrelson was a fixture astatine nan ballpark moreover aft he stopped managing. He would make nan thrust from his location successful Hauppauge often, interacting pinch fans, players and moreover nan mascot, QuackerJack.

“He coached from 2001-2018, he would beryllium nan first guidelines coach astatine location games, drawback a ceremonial first transportation from a sponsor, past he would want to spell upstairs [with nan fans],” said Michael Pfaff, nan Ducks president and main business officer. “He’d spell up to nan luxury suites and he would return pictures pinch fans and motion autographs. He would conscionable beryllium everybody’s buddy. He created a tremendous magnitude of memories.”

Pfaff came to nan Ducks successful 2022 from nan NFL wherever he worked for nan agency of nan commissioner. When he pulled into nan parking batch of nan ballpark for his interview, Harrelson was successful nan parking batch waving to him arsenic if nan 2 had known each different for years.

“But had a very unsocial talent of making everyone consciousness for illustration he knew them,” Pfaff said. “From nan infinitesimal they met him, he made them consciousness for illustration they had been lifelong friends. And I’m nary different successful that regard.”

Harrelson kept coming to nan ballpark moreover aft his Alzheimer’s test successful 2016, though not arsenic overmuch arsenic he erstwhile did. It was astir that clip that he started going to support group meetings pinch nan Long Island section of nan Alzheimer’s Association, on pinch his ex-wife, Kim Battaglia, who became his caretaker. Harrelson didn’t spell nationalist pinch nan test correct away, but erstwhile he did, he made judge nan Alzheimer’s Association was involved.

They sewage successful touch pinch nan chapter’s executive head Doug Davidson, who feared that Harrelson would find retired that he was a Chicago Cubs instrumentality during an introductory dinner.

“I was frightened retired of my mind,” Davidson joked.

Battaglia, Harrelson and his 5 kids formed “Team Harrelson.” They not only managed his attraction arsenic nan illness progressed but they besides sewage progressive pinch defense efforts. Harrelson and Battaglia joined nan committee of board and he became a president of nan walk. The Ducks put together an Alzheimer’s consciousness nighttime astatine nan ballpark, wherever his daughter, Kassandra, “brought down nan house” pinch a speech.

It was truthful impressive, she ended up becoming nan keynote speaker astatine a caregiver conference.

“The family became truthful full-on pinch nan mission,” Davidson said. “Bud’s connection was that he wanted to thief amended others and thief dispersed awareness. I conscionable was blown distant that a man who had accomplished each this was helping. It was unfortunate capable to beryllium suffering pinch this horrible disease, and yet he was still truthful selfless successful wanting to thief others.”

A study released past twelvemonth showed that nan eastbound and southeastern U.S. person nan highest prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease. In 2023, Suffolk County, wherever Harrelson resided, classed 11th of 62 counties pinch a prevalence complaint of 11.7%. More than 30,000 group complete nan property of 65 are estimated to beryllium surviving pinch Alzheimer’s successful nan county.

Disease doesn’t discriminate. Harrelson mightiness person been a personnel of nan Mets Hall of Fame and a beloved personnel of his community, and still, Alzheimer’s took clasp of him, erasing his representation and his centrifugal functions. What we’re near pinch is memories of Harrelson.

His representation will unrecorded connected pinch nan Alzheimer’s Association, pinch nan money he raised helping different families understand really to header pinch a unspeakable disease.

His representation will unrecorded connected pinch nan Ducks. The squad already retired his number successful 2018, holding a nighttime dedicated conscionable for him. They scheme to play pinch patches embroidered pinch No. 3 connected them this season. He is still listed arsenic an proprietor connected nan squad website, on pinch Boulton and Seth Waugh.

Harrelson made an imprint connected New York shot that fewer could ever forget.

“The Ducks are portion of nan cloth of nan organization that he cared truthful overmuch about,” Pfaff said. “Providing affordable intermezo successful a marketplace wherever that doesn’t beryllium is thing that is simply a use to nan community. It’s a value of life benefit… We see it an grant to proceed that bequest for arsenic agelong arsenic nan Ducks play.”