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Butch Huskey

Butch Huskey
Ultimate Mets Database popularity ranking: 61 of 1252 players
Huskey
Robert Leon Huskey
Born: November 10, 1971 at Anadarko, Okla.
Throws: Right Bats: Right
Height: 6.03 Weight: 244

Butch Huskey was the most popular Ultimate Mets Database daily lookup on June 14, 2008, September 22, 2013, December 8, 2013, May 29, 2014, October 26, 2016, August 16, 2017, July 27, 2019, August 13, 2021, and May 10, 2022.

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First Mets game: September 8, 1993
Last Mets game: September 26, 1998

Share your memories of Butch Huskey

HERE IS WHAT OTHER METS FANS HAVE TO SAY:

Jerry
My wife surprised me with tickets to two Met/Dodger games in August '98. It was my first trip to Big Shea. I told my wife, Melinda, that I had a feeling Butch was going to go yard. He did. Later in the game, he pulled his hamstring running out a grounder. That was about it for Butch and the Mets, as Butch was sent packing. I still follow stats. I think he has found a home in Boston.

Brendan
I was so happy with Butch's season in '97 that I was convinced that he would shoulder the offensive burden while Hundley recuperated in '98. I was positive we were going to get 30 homers and 100 RBI's out of this guy. He was a big disappointment.

murphy
The worst 2-strike hitter in the history of the New York Mets. That's saying something. Throw him a curveball and watch him wave at it. Take a seat, Butch.

Mike
Huskey hit the most useless 24 homers and drove in the most invisible 81 along with the softest .287 in NY since Bobby Bonds over-rated stats in '75 for the Yanks.

Given how over-matched he was when he first came up, he handled major-league pitching better than I thought.

BOB E
December 15, 2000
 Butch was a big bear of a guy with a kind heart he had my son in the dugout when he was in the fsl and we followed his career after that

DENNIS
February 25, 2001
 This is another poor example of the non-major league quality players the Mets have "developed" over the years. He was given too many opportunities by management because they thought he was another mcgwire. Husky could not hit period.

Chris
March 16, 2001
 He might have one of the greatest baseball names ever.

murphy
May 9, 2001
 I also remember when the Mets sent him to the fat farm at Duke University to lose weight. I consider Butch to be the Mets' version of Hensley "Bam Bam" Muelens. So much hype and high expectations, so little results.

Jon
November 20, 2001
 Anyone remember the war of words he waged with Denny Neagle in 1997? Neagle, pitching for the Braves, was victimized by a Huskey homer and afterwards commented that Huskey could never hit him when he was on. That resulted in a brushback or HBP at some point. I liked Butch, but the sad thing was, Neagle was probably right.

Lance
December 15, 2001
 I cannot use curse words here so I must paraphrase, but Butch was my favorite Met until a night in autumn of 1998. The Mets were playing here in Philly, and I went down to the field to get an autograph before the game. I got Butch's, and a little later he went out to run wind sprints. After about 10 minutes of people yelling "Butch, please sign this", he sidled over and yelled "F-ck you people, I don't come to your work and bother you, do I?" and walked away. From then on I have not cared where Huskey ended up.

Joe Novellino
December 17, 2001
 Was at a doubleheader against the Rockies a couple years back. Late in the second game, who comes up to pinch hit for Colorado but big Butch! Big round of boos from the 50 people left in the stands. Well deserved, too. Butch sucked and I hated his freckles.

DB
December 30, 2001
 This guy was an awesome hitter. He pulled his hamstring in 1998, and that ruined his baseball career. The Mets dumped him. He went to Boston. Didn't last. He got called up in September by the Rockies and got waived. The Twins picked him up and used them as their DH until the end of the season. I thought Butch was making a come back. I was wrong. The Twins didn't offer him a contract and he refused to play in Japan, Mexico, or Korea. So he was a Minor League free agent the whole 2001 season.

Mr. Sparkle
January 14, 2002
 How does a pulled hamstring ruin the career of a "great hitter"? It doesn't. Mr. Freckles sucked plain and simple. He could poke a homer every now and then but other than that he had zero talent. He's bounced around because he has "potential" but no real talent. I remember when the man from Oklahoma was a september call up and struck out 3 or 4 times in if not his first, one of his first games. He was a typical over hyped prospect.

peves
May 18, 2002
 Mr. April. Always tore it up in Spring Training (against Maddux too) but did squat during the regular season.

Larry Burns
May 22, 2002
 Not an ounce of talent in his body, which is amazing considering his extremely large girth. I agree with most that calling him "Mr. April" is an insult to Dave Winfield. He was a slightly more athletic Rusty Staub. But not nearly as dangerous with the bat. He seemed stuffed into his own body.

Shari
May 23, 2002
 You would think a guy that big could clock a few balls over the fence. what an enourmous ZERO.

straightjacketk
May 29, 2002
 The power hitter that never was. Oh well. Still, I always admired Butch Huskey, though I don't really know why.

Nick Birns
June 23, 2002
 I thought of Butch after hearing about the Darryl Kile tragedy, as Butch played in the no-hitter Kile threw against us. Butch always tried hard and was a fan favorite at Shea.

Gregory Gewirtz
August 2, 2002
 His battle with Denny Neagle, after he hit a three-run and a two-run homer against him after the Braves took an early 6-0 lead (a game the Mets won on Ochoa's homer in the tenth) was mild. Neagle said to the media after the game that Huskey can't hit a good fastball, and Huskey responded that Neagle never showed him a good fastball, as he hit a slider and a changeup, I think for the homers.

Huskey could play 3B, 1B, and corner OF adequately enough to hold a major league role of some sort, though he was very streaky at the plate. When he was cold, he was very cold, but when he was hot, he'd get a long homer a day.

Ken D.
October 11, 2002
 Maybe not the best ballplayer in the world, but he seemed like a nice guy to me, from my encounter with him. Kinda the guy you'd want to root for, even if he was a little slow and overweight...

It was a mid-1990's Mets-Braves game at old Fulton County Stadium. Butch was on the field before the game doing whatever it is he used to do before games. My friend and I seemed to be the only Mets fans in a sea of, well, Braves "fans." I called down (from our elevated outfield seats) to Butch to alert him to the presence of Mets fans. Zip, up came a ball right to me. I gave the ball to my friend; she thought Butch was the coolest guy in the majors.

He'll never reach the Hall, but maybe he can find a moment of glory somewhere.

Jonathan Stern
July 17, 2003
 Saw the Mets and Expos play in Montreal in 1997. After a night game, we went to a fast food place for a snack. In walked Butch. We made direct eye contact (I was wearing Mets apparel) but did not say anything to each other. He walked right on past me and out the door without getting anything.

Butch! I'm really sorry, man. I was not going to tell on you, honest! You should have gotten that cheeseburger, fries, and a Coke. I understand completely. Believe me.

There! I feel much better now. I also can use a cheeseburger or two.

Phil Thiegou
August 12, 2003
 ln March of '93 I had just moved to my new place and finished unpacking and after I got the TV hooked up l put on a Yankees-Mets exhibition game and Butch won the game with a homer in the bottom of the 9th. I loved that name and thought he was destined to become a Met legend. I was upset that he didn't make the team that spring and tried to follow him at Norfolk.

Finally he came up when the Mets increased the roster in September and lo and behold in his major league debut, the late Darryl Kile no-hits them. Then a few days later Butch separated his shoulder on a bad slide. I thought that might be it for him because he sat out most of l994. But his determination finally got him as a full time Met in '95.

Unfortunately he did not live up to his hype. He did hit a game winning home run against Hideo Nomo in '95 when he was unhittable. While up in Toronto in '98 I was trying to get autographs and I got Bill Pulsipher and someone yelled out, "Hey Butch!" He was right in front of me and while signing my baseball, I said, "Robert Leon Huskey, the bad man from Anadarko, 0klahoma." and he actually cracked a smile. It's too bad he's practically fell off the face of the earth.

Matt
December 6, 2003
 The one indelible memory I have of Butch Huskey: late 1997 season, Mets played a double header at the Vet. My dad and I there, they were already out of wild card contention, but it was a double header, and it was the Mets. Then late in game one, maybe the moment of Butch Huskey's career came up. Down maybe a run or so, regardless he was the tying run. Hit a shot into left center, probably the deepest home run I've ever seen hit, a few rows up into the 600 level. Just incredible. The one moment from the guy who seemed destined for so many more, with that closed stance.

Jon L.
April 13, 2004
 What was amazing about Butch Huskey, and probably foretold his failure as a major leaguer, was the way he hit his home runs. Almost every home run in the bigs retains some element of the original pitch direction--outside pitches get driven to opposite field, inside pitches down the line. Even the great ones hit them with some sort of symmetry--McGwire would golf low pitches high into the air, and Bonds, well, with Bonds it looks like everything in the strike zone freezes in mid-air, waiting for him to hammer it. But Huskey would take an outside pitch, maybe a cut fastball breaking away from him, and jerk the thing around like a whip, send it searing over the leftfield wall. It was spectacular when it happened, but he minimized his window of opportunity making contact like that--he was the diametric opposite of Tony Gwynn--and turned every homer into a flash in the pan. That just wasn't going to cut it for a man as large as Mr. Huskey.

Mitch45
June 23, 2004
 Loads of potential, never realized. I don't know whether it was a lack of baseball smarts or poor minor league training. He always looked like he was going to hit the ball 10 miles but seldom did.

VIBaseball
October 20, 2004
 My favorite Butch moment: he drove a *long* homer, the kind that tantalized us into thinking that he might actually live up to his billing. The camera cut to his teammates congratulating him in the dugout, and you could hear someone (my guess was Bernard Gilkey) say, "A GROWN man hit that one!"

Mr. Sparkle
January 25, 2005
 Just saw his picture on a fantasy camp web site http://metcamp.blogspot.com/.

He looks absolutely huge. I guess he's been eating a lot since his playing days ended. I'll never forget the spring training he had 8 or 9 homers and everyone thought he was gonig to have a huge year. What a disappointment.

Chris
February 5, 2005
 I remember going to a Mets/Orioles interleague game in 1998. During the game, Butch hit one into the stands for a 9th inning blast. It was the difference maker, the Mets lost 9 to 4. I had a bet that he would hit a homer during the game...unfortunately, they didn't have 6 guys on for it to matter. The next day, I was shopping in the mall and Butch and his girlfriend were shopping in SunCoast Video. I listened in as Butch's girl picked out a couple of Jim Carey DVD's. Butch, the foremost authority on all things not baseball, replied by saying, "Ahhhh, Jim Carey, that guy's not funny". Based upon this fact, I guess Butch didn't go on to be a Hollywood Talent Scout.

JFK
July 5, 2005
 I remember Butch's first game when Daryl Kile pitched his no-hitter. You could see the look in Butch's eyes of oh my god, they don't throw breaking stuff like this in AAA.

Bobby
August 18, 2005
 The first Mets game that I remember being at was the same one previosly mentioned, in which Butch hit a home run earlier in the game and pulled his hammy later.

Edgy DC
November 6, 2005
 There's a lot of jive written about Butch Huskey above. I'll stick to the record.

In April: .241 BA, .285 OBP, .371 SLG, .656 OPS Overall: .267 BA, .318 OBP, .442 SLG, .760 OPS

He was not "Mr. April." Please try again.

Shorty Larson
December 9, 2005
 24 home runs. Scouts refer to 20-homer potential as possible power. Jose Reyes has had this number and phrase billed upon him. Butch actualy eclipsed the 20-homer mark twice in his career. He had the talent. He could hit. Butch was a righthanded Mo Vaughn, only he did not have a short right field porch to hit home runs over, or a green monster to slap doubles off of. With the proper conditioning, Huskey could have easily become Greg Vaughn, Mo's cousin, if not something more.

Debi
June 2, 2006
 I remember going to watch Butch play at Capitol City Stadium in Columbia, SC when he was with the now-defunct Columbia Mets. He played third base and was always a wonder to watch. I always made my husband sit on the third base line because, besides being an excellent ball player, Butch had a nice butt.

Dan Gurney
November 8, 2007
 I always respected Huskey for wearing "42" in honor of Jackie Robinson. He stands far above Vince Coleman for that.

stevo
April 18, 2008
 My only memory of Butch was a Mets game where I scored great box seats down the third base line. As Butch walked by the rail at the end of an inning some guy came up behind me and bellowed right in his face "HE'S NOT HUSKEY, HE'S FAT." I laughed my ass off then and still do every time someone mentions Butch Huskey.

It's one thing to be a fat lawyer or accountant, but its pretty hard to feel sorry for an athlete who has a small window to make a fortune but can't stay in shape.

Gary Ramsey
November 18, 2009
 Why did they ever get rid of this guy? His stats were good, and could have gotten better.

William Bracero
July 6, 2012
 Weekday afternoon doubleheader against the Phillies at the Vet. Bucth came up to bat and I was in the 500 section (free tickets via Military) of left field when he hit the ball and to my surprise, I watch it come in from the shadows into the sunlight and land in the 600 section behind me. I was so amazed, I forgot to get the ball.

Shale
August 29, 2012
 Is it me or does Lucas Duda remind anyone of a left-handed hitting version of this guy? Both were/are converted infielders that ended up becoming everyday right fielders. Both were/are on the husky side (pun intended), both can hit the ball a mile, but both were/are prone to strikeouts and streakiness at the plate. Hopefully, Duda's time with the Mets will be more productive than Huskey's surprising greatness in 1997, followed by his disappointing 1998 season.

Although 1998 was the first year I followed baseball and the Mets (I was just 8 years old at the time) , Butch Huskey was one of my favorite players that year. Maybe it's because his name is awesome. Maybe it's because he had a solid home run swing from what I remember. I forget exactly, but I wish I had seen him during his good year in 97. While Gilkey and Lance Johnson were both underachieving that year, Huskey picked up the slack and helped Hundley and Olerud turn the Mets' lineup that year into one that other teams certainly underestimated.

He also retired at just 29 years old. Besides appearing at the Mets fantasy camp in 2006, I wonder what else he's been doing since he retired.

Kent
December 27, 2012
 Big power hitter. Thought he was going to hit 20 HRs during the late Nineties. Never panned out for the Mets. Or for anyone else, for that matter.

Curt Blizzah
April 1, 2014
 I watched Butch play for the Rookie League Kingsport Mets in Tennessee years ago. He charged the most perfect bunt and threw the guy out at first in a play that got my attention. An inning or so later, he hit the longest HR I've ever seen: the ball was still rising as it left the park. We tried chase down the ball, as others quit looking from the distance, but saw a dude picking up the ball at the post office loading dock a good distance from the park. I thought we had our next superstar.

SCOTT
September 8, 2014
 All my young married life I lived near Binghamton, and on one trip to the stadium took my six-year-old daughter to a game. During autographs Mr. Huskey refused to sign my daughter's ball because "she was a girl". In my opinion Mr. Huskey projected himself as arrogant, inconsiderate, and self-serving - not to mention having a total lack of talent. It is a small consolation that someone like Mr. Huskey did not survive the big leagues - the Mets were better off without him. God works in mysterious ways.








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