Former Mets player Butch Huskey, one of the last to wear Jackie Robinson’s No. 42, dies at 54
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The seven-year MLB veteran spent most of his career with the New York Mets and had a personal connection to the number made famous by the baseball trailblazer.
Former Major League Baseball player Butch Huskey, whose career became closely connected to Jackie Robinson’s iconic No. 42, has died. He was 54.
The New York Mets announced Huskey’s death on Friday, Aug. 14. According to the Associated Press, the team said he died from a blood clot in one of his lungs.
“We are saddened to learn about the passing of former Met Butch Huskey,” the organization said in a statement shared Friday.
Huskey played seven seasons in the major leagues, including parts of five seasons with the Mets. He also played for the Seattle Mariners, Boston Red Sox, Minnesota Twins and Colorado Rockies before his MLB career ended in 2000.
Over 642 career games, Huskey hit .267 with 86 home runs. He spent 414 games with New York, where he batted .264 with 55 home runs. His strongest season came in 1997, when he hit .287 with 24 homers and 81 RBIs for the Mets.
But beyond the numbers, Huskey held a distinctive place in baseball history because of the number on the back of his uniform.
Huskey wore No. 10 when he briefly reached the majors in 1993. When he returned to the Mets in 1995, he requested No. 42 as a tribute to Robinson, who broke Major League Baseball’s color barrier with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947.
That decision took on even greater significance two years later.
On April 15, 1997, MLB permanently retired Robinson’s No. 42 across the league during a ceremony at Shea Stadium marking the 50th anniversary of his historic debut. Huskey was on the field for the Mets that night and was wearing the number during the ceremony. Players already wearing 42 were allowed to continue using it for the remainder of their careers.
For Huskey, it was more than a uniform number.
Speaking to MLB.com in 2024, he described wearing 42 as an honor because Robinson’s sacrifices helped create opportunities for players of color who followed him. Huskey also recalled fearing, at the time of the league-wide retirement, that he might have to give up the number.
He continued wearing 42 through the end of his Mets tenure in 1998 and during his stint with the Mariners the following season. He became the last Seattle player to wear the number.
Huskey maintained that connection to Robinson’s legacy after his playing career ended. In 2024, he returned to Citi Field for the Mets’ Jackie Robinson Day celebration and caught a ceremonial first pitch from Robinson’s son, David Robinson. The event was part of the Mets’ Black Legacy Game, which honored Robinson and former Black players.
Huskey was selected by the Mets in the seventh round of the 1989 MLB draft and made his major league debut in 1993. After leaving New York following the 1998 season, he spent time with Seattle and Boston in 1999 and played for Minnesota and Colorado in 2000.
His death comes nearly three decades after he stood on the field at Shea Stadium for one of baseball’s most consequential tributes to Robinson, wearing the very number the league was retiring.