New York Mets icon Ron Hunt is in hospice care in St. Louis while suffering from multiple illnesses, the team has revealed.
Hunt, 85, was the first Mets player in history to start an MLB All-Star Game after earning his maiden selection back in 1964, following his second season with New York. He was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2018.
On Saturday, longtime Mets vice president of media relations Jay Horwitz shared the sad news about their former second baseman and asked fans to keep him in their prayers on 4th of July weekend.
‘No one played the game harder than Ron Hunt our first All-Star,’ Horwitz wrote on his Mets Insider Blog.
‘He would do anything to help win a game. He played for the Mets from 1963–1966 and wound up getting hit by a pitch 243 times in his 12-year MLB career.
‘In that All-Star year in 1964, he hit .303 and was the starting second baseman in the Mid-Season Classic which was played at Shea Stadium. Now Ron needs our prayers. He is in hospice in St. Louis suffering from multiple illnesses.
Mets icon Ron Hunt, 85, is in hospice care in St. Louis while suffering from multiple illnesses
Hunt became the first Mets player in history to start an MLB All-Star Game while in New York
‘I had the honor and privilege to meet Ron and his family on their visit to Citi Field a few years back. Loved hearing his stories about Casey Stengel. Our phone calls are something I will always treasure. So please think of Ron today. He needs our support.’
Hunt spent four seasons with the Mets and etched his name into the history books when he took the field at second base for the National League in the 1964 All-Star Game.
A year earlier he finished second in the NL Rookie of the Year race behind Pete Rose.
In his final season as a Met, Hunt made his second All-Star team after registering a .288 batting average, scoring 63 runs and getting hit by 11 pitches.
The St. Louis native went on to play with the Los Angeles Dodgers, San Francisco Giants, Montreal Expos and his home-city Cardinals over the final eight years of his MLB career.
He was hit by a pitch 243 times, which remains the sixth-most in history.
