Although he never appeared in a game, Guy Buzzelli Jr. was always at bat for the Pirates.

Undaunted by the muscular dystrophy that put him in a wheelchair during his teens, Mr. Buzzelli was the all-time leader of the Gold Club, the team's volunteer sales group, selling $2.5 million in tickets over 20-plus seasons.

"He was an amazing guy. Every year it seemed to go up and up," said Patrice Palmiere, Gold Club coordinator.

Mr. Buzzelli also was an active fundraiser for the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

"Guy had a saying: You gotta A-S-K to G-E-T," said Randi Minerva, MDA district field representative. "He never took no. He was so persistent in everything he did."

Mr. Buzzelli's illness weakened him in recent years, and he died Saturday at age 46.

"Everybody here is so shocked and so full of tears," said Judi McNeil, spokeswoman for the Port Authority, where Mr. Buzzelli worked for 22 years before retiring in 2003.

"He accomplished more than a lot of able-bodied people I know. Every time you'd think you were having a bad day, you'd think about Guy and all that he had to go through just to get up and get a shower," she said.

"He brought a smile to every day."

Mr. Buzzelli, a lifelong Bethel Park resident, learned he had muscular dystrophy at age 9. One morning when he was 16, he fell and broke his femur, leaving him in a body cast for a year and ending his ability to walk, said his mother, Theresa Buzzelli, with whom he lived. He went on to graduate from Bethel Park High School with the assistance of in-home tutoring.

After high school, he was hired at the Port Authority, where he started in the money room, unfolding dollar bills and sorting change that was collected in fareboxes. Over the years he worked his way up to an assistant's post in accounting.

"He never got down. He always said that whatever he wanted to do, he would find a way to do it. The people at work said they didn't even see the wheelchair," Mrs. Buzzelli said.

Mr. Buzzelli sold Pirates tickets out of his bedroom office, spending entire days on the telephone, typing ticket orders out with his left hand, she said.

Last year he organized the Guy Buzzelli Jr. Golf Classic, with a goal of raising $20,000 for muscular dystrophy. The event raised $27,000 and will continue this year.

He appeared as an extra in two feature films shot in Pittsburgh: "House Guest," starring Sinbad and Phil Hartman, and "Only You," starring Marisa Tomei and Robert Downey Jr.

Another of Mr. Buzzelli's legacies is the Guy Buzzelli Jr. Champion of Spirit Award, given to him by the Muscular Dystrophy Association in 2007 and now an annual recognition of philanthropic involvement.

Mr. Buzzelli also is survived by his father, Guy Sr., and a sister, Darcy Cleaver, both of Bethel Park.

Friends will be received from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. today at John F. Slater Funeral Home, 4201 Brownsville Road, Brentwood. Funeral Mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m. tomorrow at St. Gabriel of the Sorrowful Virgin, 5200 Greenridge Drive, Whitehall.

Burial will be in Jefferson Memorial Park, Pleasant Hills.