“If I ever made it in baseball, 42 would be my number.” Butch Huskey wrote in his book report as a high schooler, years before his MLB debut in 1993. So, when the time came to choose between the football scholarship and the New York Mets, Huskey knew what it was going to be. Drafted out of Eisenhower High School in Lawton by the Mets in Round 7 of the 1989 MLB Draft, he spent seven seasons in MLB. Sporting the No. 42 on his back, Huskey etched his name in MLB history, and the baseball community will forever remember him like that.

Born on November 10, 1971, in Oklahoma’s Anadarko, Robert Leon “Butch” Huskey grew up surrounded by a large family and, most importantly, his grandmother. Leaving behind his early childhood home, Huskey later moved to Lawton, where his father, a policeman, lived. In Lawton, Huskey’s love for baseball grew, and his passion for the sport carried him to the Major Leagues. Now, following his untimely passing, Huskey’s former team, the New York Mets, expressed its condolences on X.

“We are saddened to learn about the passing of former Met Butch Huskey,” wrote the team on its official X handle.

Huskey reportedly passed away from a pulmonary embolism in his hometown of Lawton after experiencing breathing difficulties that morning. He is survived by his wife, Kristy, son Bryce, and daughters Kennedy and Kyrbi.

Growing up as a Texas Rangers fan, the 6’3″, 244-pound player stole the spotlight as a multi-sport talent. He became an All-State tight end in high school and even secured a scholarship with the Oklahoma Sooners, but Huskey ultimately picked baseball.

After being drafted in 1989, Huskey debuted in the big leagues in 1993 as a Met, where he faced the Astros in Houston and struck out three times as Darryl Kile threw a no-hitter. While he struggled under the Mets’ hard-driving manager, Dallas Green, he genuinely flourished under Bobby Valentine during that 1997 season, posting a .287 average with 24 homers and 81 RBIs. After this, it was only a matter of time before he established himself as a solid player.

“He was a gentle giant, a super-nice guy, very polite,” Jim Duquette, the Mets’ farm director, said on Friday. “And man, oh man, did he have some kind of power.”

He spent parts of five seasons in the Queens and with the Mets, he delivered one of the longest home runs in the history of Philadelphia’s Veterans Stadium in 1997 before he was traded to the Seattle Mariners in 1999. That trade eventually opened up the door for his move to the Boston Red Sox.

In 1999, Huskey joined a Red Sox team that still had not broken their infamous Curse of Bambino. The 1999 team came close to breaking that curse as they reached the ALCS that year. However, they eventually lost to the eventual World Series champions, the New York Yankees. The Red Sox would not break that curse until 2004. He played only 45 games in Boston.

The penultimate player to wear No. 42 and his career

Butch Huskey is famously remembered as the penultimate player to wear the number 42 jersey before MLB retired it league-wide. The move was intended to honor Jackie Robinson, who broke the color barrier in modern MLB. Huskey was still playing with the Mets when the league decided to retire the number. But Huskey and the other players wearing number 42 at the time got to wear it until they retired, owing to MLB’s grandfather rule. He recalled the feeling of wearing that number after his retirement.

“It was a great feeling [to get to continue] to wear that number,” Huskey told MLB.com in 2022.

After debuting with the Mets in 1993, Huskey continued to develop his skills between the minor leagues and MLB till his breakout season. In 1997, his best season in MLB, Huskey recorded a slash line of .287/319/503 with an .822 OPS. He drove in 81 RBIs and hit 24 home runs that season. After spending the 1998 season with the Mets, he split his last two years in baseball between four teams, including the Mariners, Red Sox, Twins, and the Rockies.

Huskey left pro baseball in 2000 while playing for the Colorado Rockies. He walked away with a career slash line of .267/.318/.442 with a .760 OPS. In 642 career MLB games, he recorded 259 runs, 336 RBIs, and 86 home runs. Those might be numbers, but the impact he left behind is not lost on anyone in the baseball community.

“Just want to acknowledge a solemn day with the passing of Butch Huskey this morning,” Mets interim manager Andy Green said Friday. “Just want to send prayers and thoughts to his family. I know all of our Mets family is thinking of him, and the people who love him today.”

Death may have come untimely for Huskey, but baseball lovers will remember him forever.