You cannot be a Mets fan from back then and not feel sad to see another one of those "crazy young kids who love to play this game" leave us
Statistics, no matter how Bill James'd, only scratch the surface of measuring the worth of a player to his club. Bud Harrelson was certainly a good example of that.
In the early years, the Mets marketed themselves as having a bright future but until then, come see NL stars such as Aaron, Mays and Callison so the scorecard booklet and yearbook (and revisions, remember that?) would reflect that. Under the "future' section would always be minor league prospects ahead of what would undoubtedly all stad MLB careers. We are still waiting for Lloyd Flodin, Wilbur Huckle and Danny Napoleon, but one day Derrel Harrelson appears in that section. My best friend looks at the picture and says, hey look, I guy I can probably beat up. Well looks can be deceiving because this little guy was all fight
His first appearance was in Sept at Shea. Ran for Roy McMillian in the 8th and played in the field in the 9th. From row J in the UD, he looked like the son half of the father-son game they used to have. Then he made a play in the field and we said "Oh!" This is after two years of watching McMillian (thankfully I just missed Moran), who although one of the greatest SS in history, was over the hill by the time he got here. His arm was shot and he had the range of a 2023 Jets OL trying to pass block. Harrelson went into the hole, planted and gunned someone out. We were hooked.
Bud couldn't hit, at all. Seaver had one more lifetime HR for the Mets than he did (6 vs5). He came up as a righty hitter and basically learned to switch as MLB'er. Just slap the ball to left LH, the LF's used to play almost right behind the SS
His value was as a gold glover (should have won more than 1 but for some reason the sportswriters always snubbed both him and Grote) but his bat was the cause of two fun menories.
In his rookie year, 1967, Mets were in Forbes field. Batting righty against Juan Pizarro (IIRC), he was late with aswing and hit a soft liner right down the RF line. The ball was foul by a few inches (to my eyes) but the ump called it fair. RF Al Luplow who the Mets had sold to Pitt earlier in the year started arguing the call rather than chasing the ball and Harrelson ran around the bases for an inside the park HR. It would be 1970 until he hit another, a legit shot off Grant Jackson(?) into the visitor bullpen. The announcers were shocked as was everyone else. It would prove to be his only HR at Shea.
S'long Derrel, and thanks for keeping Seaver's ERA down
Statistics, no matter how Bill James'd, only scratch the surface of measuring the worth of a player to his club. Bud Harrelson was certainly a good example of that.
In the early years, the Mets marketed themselves as having a bright future but until then, come see NL stars such as Aaron, Mays and Callison so the scorecard booklet and yearbook (and revisions, remember that?) would reflect that. Under the "future' section would always be minor league prospects ahead of what would undoubtedly all stad MLB careers. We are still waiting for Lloyd Flodin, Wilbur Huckle and Danny Napoleon, but one day Derrel Harrelson appears in that section. My best friend looks at the picture and says, hey look, I guy I can probably beat up. Well looks can be deceiving because this little guy was all fight
His first appearance was in Sept at Shea. Ran for Roy McMillian in the 8th and played in the field in the 9th. From row J in the UD, he looked like the son half of the father-son game they used to have. Then he made a play in the field and we said "Oh!" This is after two years of watching McMillian (thankfully I just missed Moran), who although one of the greatest SS in history, was over the hill by the time he got here. His arm was shot and he had the range of a 2023 Jets OL trying to pass block. Harrelson went into the hole, planted and gunned someone out. We were hooked.
Bud couldn't hit, at all. Seaver had one more lifetime HR for the Mets than he did (6 vs5). He came up as a righty hitter and basically learned to switch as MLB'er. Just slap the ball to left LH, the LF's used to play almost right behind the SS
His value was as a gold glover (should have won more than 1 but for some reason the sportswriters always snubbed both him and Grote) but his bat was the cause of two fun menories.
In his rookie year, 1967, Mets were in Forbes field. Batting righty against Juan Pizarro (IIRC), he was late with aswing and hit a soft liner right down the RF line. The ball was foul by a few inches (to my eyes) but the ump called it fair. RF Al Luplow who the Mets had sold to Pitt earlier in the year started arguing the call rather than chasing the ball and Harrelson ran around the bases for an inside the park HR. It would be 1970 until he hit another, a legit shot off Grant Jackson(?) into the visitor bullpen. The announcers were shocked as was everyone else. It would prove to be his only HR at Shea.
S'long Derrel, and thanks for keeping Seaver's ERA down
