Mets Legend Passes

During the early days of the New York Mets franchise, they were a team struggling to find an identity. They were looking for guys to help establish the franchise on the field and off it as well. The first guy to really take that mantel was second baseman Ron Hunt. He spent a short time in New York, but he left his impact on the team, the city and the sport. The legendary 2nd baseman passed away last week at the age of 86.

Hunt spent twelve years in the Majors, the first four of which were with the New York Mets. He was the first Mets player to be elected to not only the all star game but to start an all star game. He was the starting second baseman for the National League in 1963. He then went on to play one year with the Dodgers, three with the Giants, five with the Cardinals and his final year with the Cardinals in 1974. He's ability to crowd the plate and make the strike zone almost disappear. That style at the dish lead him to getting hit by a pitch a record (at the time) 243 times in his career. During his career, Hit had 1,429 hits, 39 home runs, 370 RBI's and was a .273 lifetime hitter. All this to go along with those hit by pitch totals. He made both of his all star appearances playing for the Mets in both 1964 and 1966.

What Hunt did was establish himself with the Mets as one of the early stars for the franchise. He had a solid all around game and really gave the Mets their first star that the fanbase could get behind. He put the team in a sense on the map. He had a unique style of play for this game and it was something that other players studied during the years since his career ended.

Ron Hunt was the first kind of star that the Mets had and he will be forever remembered.