Ron Hunt, first Mets All-Star starter, in hospice while battling multiple illnesses

Ron Hunt, the first Mets player to start an All-Star Game, is in hospice in St. Louis while suffering from multiple illnesses.

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Longtime Mets vice president of media relations Jay Horwitz shared the news Saturday, asking fans to keep the 85-year-old Hunt in their thoughts.

“No one played the game harder than Ron Hunt, our first All-Star,” Horwitz wrote on Medium. “He would do anything to help win a game.”

Hunt played four seasons for the Mets from 1963-66 and became the first player in team history to start an All-Star Game when he took the field at second base for the National League in the 1964 Midsummer Classic at Shea Stadium.

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That season, Hunt hit .303 while receiving some down-ballot NL MVP votes. 

A year earlier, Hunt finished second in the NL Rookie of the Year race behind Pete Rose.

In 1966, his final season in a Mets uniform, Hunt made his second All-Star team.

He went on to play eight more big league seasons with the Mets, Dodgers, Giants, Expos and Cardinals, finishing his career with 1,429 hits and a reputation as one of the toughest players of his era. 

Hunt was hit by a pitch 243 times, which is still the sixth-most in MLB history.

Horwitz, who currently runs the organization’s alumni relations, said he had the “honor and privilege” of meeting Hunt and his family during a visit to Citi Field a few years ago. He treasured their later phone calls.

“Loved hearing his stories about Casey Stengel,” Horwitz wrote. “So please think of Ron today. He needs our support.”

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In 2018, it was revealed that Hunt was dealing with Parkinson’s disease.