Ron Hunt has Passed Away

[MFS62]

85 years old.

https://nypost.com/2026/07/04/sports/mets-all-star-ron-hunt-in-hospice-care-with-multiple-illnesses/

The first Met to start an all-star game.

RIP

Later

[ashie62]

I don't remember him as a Met but I do as an Expo

Condolences to his family

[Frayed Knot]

I recall of story from a year or two back about him dealing with a host of medical issues and then read recently that he was in hospice care so not really a surprise. And, y'know, 85.

He was a Met when I was very young but also already learning about baseball and the Mets so he was one of my early favorites.

[The Hot Corner]

I remember Ron Hunt for his propensity for crowding the plate and his relative indifference to getting out of the way of pitches.  I remember he led the NL in being hit by pitches for several consecutive seasons.  He set the record for being hit by pitches (50)* in a single season while playing with the Expos.  This at a time when players didn't wear so much (if any) body armor that they looked like Gladiators.

*I knew he had set the record, but I had to look up exactly how many times he took one for the team.  I was playing Little League  and Senior League baseball during his streak.  I couldn't imagine getting hit that many times.  It obviously made a lasting impression on me.

[Edgy MD]

As mentioned in the previous dead thread, he had been dealing with Parkinson's Disease for probably more than a decade.  It is fair to ask whether his style of play was a factor in that.

He was a steal when they got him for cash from the Braves, but beaten out for RoY by Pete Rose.  Rose got 17 out of 20 votes but they were pretty much a dead heat statistically.  My vote would probably have been for Ray Culp.

Led the league in getting plunked seven straight years.  Also (and possibly relatedly), by some accounts, predicted the latter-day coming of Jeff McNeil as a member of the Baseball Profanity Hall of Fame.

[Cowtipper]

In his own way, a Mets legend. I can't believe the Mets have been around long enough that they now have guys who are dying in their 80s and 90s. They're an expansion team, they're not supposed to be "old." But they're 64 years old now. The youngest 1962 Met is 88-year-old Craig Anderson.

We're losing the living links to those early teams, however it will be many years before we lose ALL of them, as the FANS that saw them play and can still pass on the memories should be around a while. Assume a kid was 6 or 7 in 1962. He's 'only' 70-ish years old right now. But still, even those folks won't be around forever. 

This still gets me about Hunt. WOW: 

[smg58]

Hunt was before my time, so I can't say much about him.  But there is something to be said for being the first player to excel in a Mets uniform.

[Cowtipper]

Intriguingly, the guy the Mets traded Ron Hunt (and Jim Hickman) away for, Derrell Griffith*, died just a few weeks ago, too. 

*though the big name in the deal was Tommy Davis

[MFS62]

Two of my early Mets heroes were dealt away in that trade.

Later