Derrell McKinley Harrelson was born in Niles, Calif., about 24 miles southeast of Oakland, on June 6, 1944 (the date of the D-Day invasion), to Glenn and Rena Harrelson. His father was an auto mechanic and automobile salesman; his mom, Rena, labored in actual property. His brother, Dwayne, who was two years older, at first referred to as him Bubba as a result of he couldn’t pronounce brother; that developed into Bud and finally Buddy.
Harrelson’s first marriage resulted in divorce. He’s survived by his spouse, Kim Battaglia; three daughters, Kimberly Psarras, Alexandra Abbatiello and Kassandra Harrelson; two sons, Timothy and Troy Harrelson; 10 grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.
In Could 2017, Artwork Shamsky, an outfielder with the Mets’ 1969 World Collection champions, introduced collectively his former teammates Harrelson, Jerry Koosman and Ron Swoboda for a go to with the Mets’ Corridor of Fame pitcher Tom Seaver, who was residing together with his spouse, Nancy, in California’s Napa Valley and tending to his winery. Each Harrelson and Seaver had been experiencing reminiscence loss by then, Seaver as a consequence of getting contracted Lyme illness. He would die of Lewy physique dementia and problems of Covid-19 in 2020 at 75.
That reunion and the Mets’ 1969 season had been recounted in “After the Miracle: The Lasting Brotherhood of the ’69 Mets” (2019), written by Shamsky in collaboration with the sportswriter Erik Sherman, who had additionally been on the gathering.
“9 years Tom and I had been roommates,” Harrelson remarked on the reunion. “And we’ve been like brothers ever since.”
As Shamsky put it in telling of that journey, “It’s a merciless accident what time has achieved to 2 males synonymous with the whole lot nice in regards to the sport of baseball — and the historical past of the New York Mets.”
Sofia Poznansky contributed reporting.