Celebrating the Mets’ 50th anniversary season—the only man in uniform for both the 1969 and 1986 World Championship teams remembers the early years, tough times, and glory days.

 

When the Mets celebrated the 20th anniversary of the 1986 championship team, one man received thunderous applause when he was introduced as the only man in uniform for BOTH of the Mets' title teams. Bud Harrelson, an All-Star, Gold Glove shortstop, anchored the infield of the 1969 "Miracle Mets" and played in two World Series. After retiring as a player, Harrelson joined the Mets as a third base coach and was there for all the memorable events from the storied 1986 season, including the team's unforgettable Game 6 comeback against the Boston Red Sox.

 

A scrawny "everyman" as a player and throwback to the pre-steroid era, Harrelson also recounts his legendary fight with Pete Rose in the 1973 playoffs with the Reds, as well as his memories of Casey Stengel, Gil Hodges, Tom Seaver, Willie Mays, Keith Hernandez, and the many other legendary players he played with and against in his long career.

Turning Two: My Journey to the Top of the World and Back with the New York Mets
by Bud Harrelson and Phil Pepe

• Publication Date: April 10, 2012
• Genres: Sports
• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books
• ISBN-10: 0312662408
• ISBN-13: 9780312662400