Meet the Met who’s battling Alzheimer’s

HE’S FOUGHT Pirates, Giants, Reds and a few Dodgers as a shortstop and manager for the New York Mets, and now Bud Harrelson is in a fight shared by 400,000 New Yorkers: the war against Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.

Harrelson, 73, and his family will be participating in a frank discussion about his struggles with the memory-eroding disease in an educational conference sponsored by the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America this week.

The former ballplayer announced this year that he is suffering from early-stage dementia — as well as his plans to fight it.

“It’s tremendous that he’s coming,” said Charles Fuschillo, Alzheimer’s Foundation chief executive officer. “He is someone that everyone grew up with. To have him talk about his disease publicly, people will say, ‘I can talk about my struggles with it and seek help.’ ”

During their session, Harrelson (photo inset) and his family will discuss how they are coping with the disease as it progresses, and share how the illness has affected their lives.

In an interview with Daily News sports columnist John Harper in February, Harrelson said the disease really hit home when he was told he couldn’t drive anymore.

“That’s the worst thing that happened to me,” he told Harper. “When I go to meetings (with other Alzheimer’s sufferers) and someone says they still drive, I say, ‘How? What do you do when you get lost and can’t remember where you are?’ ”

“It’s scary,” Harrelson said about the disease. “But it’s not like it’s kicking my butt every day. It could be worse. It comes and goes. You just keep going day by day.”

Harrelson declined to be interviewed about his role in the upcoming free conference, set for Friday at the Crowne Plaza Times Square hotel beginning at 9 a.m.

The conference is for leading dementia and Alzheimer’s disease experts and professional caregivers — as well as anyone who has a concern if they, or a loved one, has the disease for which there is currently no cure. “People need to know where to turn to to get guidance and counseling on Alzheimer’s,” said Fuschillo. “There is still a stigma attached to this disease, and people are reluctant to reach out and get help.”

For more information or to register for the conference, visit alzfdn.org or call (866)

232-8484.