Ron Hunt

Ronald Kenneth Hunt (February 23, 1941 – July 15, 2026) was an American professional baseball second baseman. He played 12 seasons in Major League Baseball from 1963 to 1974 for the New York Mets, Los Angeles Dodgers, San Francisco Giants, Montreal Expos, and St. Louis Cardinals. Hunt batted and threw right-handed.

In Hunt set a single-season record for being hit by more pitches (50) than any player since 1900. He graduated from Ritenour High School in Breckenridge Hills, Missouri, where he played football and baseball. Hunt had been the bullpen catcher until he approached manager Casey Stengel and asked to be sent to the minor leagues to play second base, if the Mets were not going to play him. Stengel responded by making Hunt the second baseman.

That year, he also finished runner-up to Pete Rose for the National League Rookie of the Year honors. The game was played in Hunt's home ballpark, the newly opened Shea Stadium. He got one hit in three at bats in the game. He was also an All-Star representative in . Hunt had no hits in one official at bat, but had a sacrifice bunt in the bottom of the 10th inning that moved Tim McCarver to second base to set up the winning run when Maury Wills' single drove McCarver home for the NL win. He was hit by 11 pitches that year. After batting .263 during the season, a year in which he was injured again,

In his first season with the Giants in , Hunt batted .250 with two home runs, and scored 79 runs. He was hit by pitches 25 times, leading the league. This was the first of seven consecutive years he led the NL in being hit by pitches.

After two more seasons in San Francisco (batting .262 and .281, and being hit by pitches 25 and 26 times respectively), Hunt was traded to the Montreal Expos after the 1970 season. In 1973, he set an Expos record by striking out only 19 times in 401 at-bats, the fewest ever in franchise history by a player who had at least 400 at-bats on the season.

Hunt hit his last major league home run on September 21, 1971, in the first game of a doubleheader against the Phillies as a member of the Expos at Jarry Park. He then went 1,302 at-bats, 1,571 plate appearances and 378 games without hitting another when he closed out his career at the end of the 1974 season with a brief stint with the St. Louis Cardinals.

Hit by pitches Hunt, whose motto was, "Some people give their bodies to science; I give mine to baseball," He was hit by 25 pitches in , 25 in , 26 in , 50 in , 26 in and 24 in , and 16 in 1974.

In , as a member of the Montreal Expos, he set a single-season record for being hit by more pitches (50) than any player since 1900. This was the most since the 19th century Baltimore Orioles' shortstop Hughie Jennings was hit 51 times in 1896 ). As of 2024, the closest post-1900 player to Hunt in being hit by pitches in a season is Don Baylor, with 35 in 1986. On June 25, 1971, he was hit three times during a doubleheader. obliterating the post-1900 record of 31 by Steve Evans. which broke the National League record set by Steve Evans of the St. Louis Cardinals. At the time, he was only the fifth player to be hit by a pitch three times in one game. As of 2024, the feat has been done over 30 times.

Upon his retirement, his 243 HBPs were a post-dead-ball era career record. Hughie Jennings holds the all-time record with 287.

Personal life and death After baseball, Hunt owned a liquor store and a sporting goods store in Wentzville, Missouri. Hunt later raised cattle. He founded The Ron Hunt Eagles Baseball Association, a non-profit corporation. It is a live-in training program for 14-18 year olds from the United States, Canada, and overseas come to learn and play team baseball, and to prepare them for college. The players live on site in dorms and play on a field Hunt built, competing in around 40 games over the summer with teams across the Midwest.

As of 2018, he was reportedly suffering from Parkinson's disease.

Ron Hunt died from Parkinson's disease and cancer in St. Louis on July 15, 2026, at the age of 85.