Former big leaguer Butch Huskey passed away on Friday, the Mets announced. He was 54. Huskey spent the majority of his seven-year big-league career in New York. He was known for wearing the number 42 in honor of Jackie Robinson.
The Mets took Huskey in the seventh round of the 1989 draft out of high school. He broke in with the club as a 21-year-old in 1993, but appeared in just 13 games. Huskey spent the entire 1994 campaign at Triple-A before getting another cup of coffee with the big-league squad in 1995.
Huskey emerged as a regular for the first time in 1996. He slashed .278/.319/.435 in 118 games, mostly split between right field and first base. Huskey took another step forward the following season, launching a career-best 24 home runs while bouncing between the corner infield and corner outfield spots. He also swiped a career-high eight bases.
The 1998 season would be Huskey’s last with the Mets. He hit .252 with 13 home runs in semi-regular playing time. Huskey was traded to the Mariners that offseason. He popped 15 home runs in just 74 games in Seattle. The club, not in playoff contention, sent him to the Red Sox shortly before the trade deadline. Huskey saw the only postseason action of his career that season. He went 2-for-10 in six games across the ALDS and ALCS.
Huskey’s last big-league season was split between the Twins and Rockies in 2000. He posted an 84 wRC+ over 356 plate appearances. Huskey spent the 2001 season at Triple-A in Colorado’s system. It would be his final year in pro ball.
In parts of seven MLB seasons, Huskey played in 642 games. He totaled 86 home runs, 336 RBI, and 21 stolen bases. Huskey had a .760 OPS for his career. He started 50+ games at each of first base, third base, left field, and right field.
Huskey was one of the last players to don Robinson’s now-retired No. 42. He was wearing it with the Mets when the league officially retired it in 1997. Huskey was grandfathered in and allowed to continue wearing the number. He even got a mention from commissioner Bud Selig during the retirement ceremony before a Mets/Dodgers game in April 1997. “Those players who currently wear 42, including those like Butch Huskey of the Mets … who wear the number in tribute to Jackie, may continue to wear the number for the remainder of their careers,” Selig said (h/t Tyler Kepner of the New York Times).
We at MLB Trade Rumors send our condolences to Huskey’s family and friends.
