Major League Baseball (MLB) star Ron Hodges, the former catcher for the New York Mets, has died at the age of 74.
Mets spokesman Jay Horwitz is the one who announced Hodges passing, according to ABC News.
Hodges is reported to have passed away on Friday, November 24, 2023, after a brief illness.
Further specifics about the illness have not been reported.
Per ABC, “Hodges died at Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital after a short illness, Mets spokesman Jay Horwitz said.”
Hodges was a professional baseball player who spent his entire career as a catcher for the New York Mets.
From Rocky Mount, Virginia, Hodges, according to the New York Post, would go on to become the second-round draft pick of the Mets in the January 1972 amateur draft.
It was roughly 18 months later that Hodges would be called up to the big leagues after the Mets were hit by some injuries.
Hodges made his major league debut on June 13, 1973.
On that day, he caught pitcher Tom Seaver’s complete game, in a defeat of San Francisco.
This was the start of what would be Hodges’s 12-season career with the Mets, lasting from 1973 to 1984.
During that time, he played for seven different managers, including Yogi Berra, Roy McMillan, Joe Torre, George Bamberger, Frank Howard, and Davey Johnson.
Hodges would finish his career with a .240 batting average, 19 home runs, 147 runs batted in, and a .342 on-base percentage.
Hodges once revealed his “favorite memory” of his baseball career, and it was his first season with the Mets.
“Playing in that ’73 season with the pennant drive in September is my favorite memory of my baseball career,” he said.
MLB.com reports that Hodges’s “signature game” occurred during this run.
“Hodges’ signature game occurred against the Pirates on Sept. 20,” the outlet reports.
“With the score tied at 3, Hodges entered the game in the top of the 10th inning.
“Three innings later, it looked like the Pirates were going to take the lead when — with a runner on first, two outs, and Mets left-hander Ray Sadecki on the mound — outfielder Dave Augustine hit a fly ball to deep left field.”
The report adds:
“It appeared as if Augustine had hit his first Major League home run, but the ball hit the top of the fence and landed in Cleon Jones’ glove.
“Jones then hit the cutoff man — shortstop Wayne Garrett — who threw the ball to Hodges to nail Richie Zisk at the plate.”
