Baseball career
Harkness was signed by the Philadelphia Phillies before the 1956 season. He was traded by the Phillies on April 5, 1957, along with a player to be named later, Ron Negray, Elmer Valo, a minor league player, and $75,000 to the Brooklyn Dodgers in exchange for Chico Fernández, with the Phillies completing the trade on April 8 when they sent Ben Flowers to the Dodgers.[1]
New York Mets
Harkness was traded along with Larry Burright from the Dodgers to the New York Mets for Bob Miller on 1 December 1962.[4] In the 1963 season with the Mets, Harkness played in 123 games, achieving 79 hits (including 12 doubles, three triples with 10 home runs) in 375 at bats, for a .211 batting average, together with 41 RBI.[1] His seven times hit by pitch that season tied him for eighth among National League batters.[5]
On April 17, 1964, Harkness led off for the Mets in the bottom of the first inning, collecting a single off Bob Friend in the third inning to become the first Mets player to bat and the first to get a hit in the team's initial game played at the new Shea Stadium as part of a 4–3 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates.[6][7] With the 1964 Mets, he appeared in 39 games, getting 33 hits in 117 at-bats (including two doubles, a triple and two home runs) for a .282 batting average, and 13 RBI.[1]
On July 28, 1964, after Harkness went one-for-four as the Mets' first baseman in a 9–0 loss to the Dodgers, he was traded to the Cincinnati Reds for infielder Bobby Klaus and assigned to Triple-A San Diego. He played at the Triple-A level for the rest of his professional career, retiring after the 1966 season at age 28.
Career summary and retirement
In 259 big-league games played through all or parts of four seasons, Harkness collected 132 hits, with 18 doubles and four triples accompanying his 14 home runs. He batted .235 overall.
