Tim Harkness, a veteran of four major league seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Mets, has died. He was 87.
Bob Elliott of the Canadian Baseball Network reported news of Harkness’ passing Sunday on Twitter/X.
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A left-handed hitting first baseman, Harkness signed with the Philadelphia Phillies as an amateur out of Montreal before he was traded to the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1957. Harkness made his major league debut with the Dodgers four years later, after the team relocated to Los Angeles.
Harkness batted .286 (20-for-70) with a .405 on-base percentage and .429 slugging percentage for the Dodgers from 1961-62, shuttling back and forth between the majors and minors while missing time due to injuries.
In November 1962, Harkness and Larry Burright were traded to the Mets, a second-year franchise that lost a modern record 120 games in 1961.
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Harkness was the primary first baseman for Hall of Fame manager Casey Stengel in his first season in Queens. He played a career-high 123 games, slashed .211/.290/.339, hit 10 home runs, and drove in 41. The Mets went 51-111.
In 1964, Harkness played just 39 games. He hit an encouraging .303 (33-for-109) as a starter but struggled (0 for 8) as a pinch hitter. In July of that season, the Mets traded Harkness to the Reds for infielder Bobby Klaus.
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Harkness finished out the season with the Reds’ Triple-A affiliate, the San Diego Padres, and never appeared in a major league game again.
The 1965 and 1966 seasons saw Harkness bounce between the Braves, Reds and Pirates organizations, never ascending past Triple-A.
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After his playing career ended, Harkness returned to Canada, where he found work as a scout for the Padres and Toronto Blue Jays.
Harkness’ playing career was brief, but it afforded him an important place in Mets franchise history. On April 17, 1964, he singled in the third inning of a game against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Shea Stadium — the first Met to record a hit at the park they would call home until 2008.
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