Butch Huskey, the beloved New York Mets slugger, has passed away at age 54, the team announced Friday.
A cause of death has not been revealed for the native Oklahoman.
‘We are saddened to learn about the passing of former Met Butch Huskey,’ the Mets said on social media.
Huskey was among the last players to wear No. 42 after it was retired by Major League Baseball in 1997 to honor Brooklyn Dodgers legend Jackie Robinson, who had integrated the game a half century earlier. One of several players wearing No. 42 at the time it was retired, Huskey was given a grandfather clause, allowing him to keep the jersey for several more seasons.
Mo Vaughn, who also benefited from the grandfather clause, would later become the last player to wear the famed jersey for the Mets.
He was a seventh-round pick out of Lawton, Oklahoma’s Eisenhower High School, where he was an All-State tight end on the football field. In fact, he was offered a scholarship to play for the home state Sooners, but instead went with the Mets offer and began his minor league career.
Huskey was among the last players to wear No. 42 after it was retired by MLB in 1997 to honor Jackie Robinson, who had integrated the game a half century earlier
Butch Huskey is seen with his former Seattle Mariners teammate, Ken Griffey Jr. in 2022
Huskey wouldn’t reach the majors until 1993, and due partially to the 1994 MLB strike, he wouldn’t really get to enjoy life in the majors until 1995.
But things began to click for Huskey in 1996, when he finished with 15 home runs and a .278 average while platooning with the left-handed hitting Rico Brogna at first base.
He had his best offensive season in 1997, getting a career-high 505 plate appearances and finishing with 24 home runs and a .287 average. But Huskey was forced to play third that year, which did not go particularly well, and he was later shifted to right field and a reserve spot in favor of Edgardo Alfonzo.
Huskey would go from Seattle to Boston to Minnesota and Colorado over the next two years before leaving the game in 2001 as a member of the Rockies Triple-A affiliate.
