Former New York Mets catcher Ron Hodges dies at 74
NEW YORK (AP) — Ron Hodges, a catcher who spent his total 12-season main league profession with the New York Mets, died Friday. He was 74.
Hodges died at Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital after a brief sickness, Mets spokesman Jay Horwitz mentioned.
Selected by the Mets within the second spherical of the second section of the January 1972 beginner draft, Hodges completed with a .240 batting common, 19 homers and 147 RBIs throughout a giant league profession from 1973-84. Hodges had a .342 on-base share with 224 walks and 217 strikeouts.
He performed underneath seven managers with the Mets: Yogi Berra, Roy McMillan, Joe Torre, George Bamberger, Frank Howard and Davey Johnson.
A local of Rocky Mount, Virginia, Hodges was the seventh of 9 kids of Daisy and Tony Hodges. He attended Franklin County High School, then attended Appalachian State.
Hodges was introduced as much as the Mets from Double-A Memphis in 1973 due to accidents to Jerry Grote and Duffy Dyer. Hodges made his debut on June 13, 1973, 9 days shy of his twenty fourth birthday, catching Tom Seaver’s full recreation win over San Francisco.
He batted .260 with one homer and 18 RBIs in his rookie season, hitting a Thirteenth-inning walk-off single towards NL East-leading Pittsburgh on Sept. 20.
In the highest of the inning with a runner on first, Dave Augustine hit a two-out drive towards Ray Sadecki that caromed off the left-field wall above the 358-foot signal. Cleon Jones threw to Wayne Garrett, and the shortstop relayed to Hodges, who tagged Richie Zisk making an attempt to attain from first, what grew to become often known as the “Ball on the wall play.” The Mets pulled inside a half-game of first, and took the division lead for good the next day behind Seaver’s five-hitter.
“I just remember so many key hits he got for us,” Jones said in a statement. “Any time he played, Ron always managed to do something to help us win.”
Hodges had one postseason plate look, strolling towards Oakland’s Rollie Fingers in Game 1 of the World Series.
“Playing in that ’73 season with the pennant drive in September is my favorite memory of my baseball career,” Hodges mentioned in a 2018 interview with the Society for American Baseball Research.
Hodges was among the many gamers whose profession was interrupted by the 50-day midseason strike in 1981.
″If nothing occurs within the strike talks,″ he advised The New York Times forward of the walkout, ″I’ll put all people within the automotive and head house to Virginia. There’s not a lot demand for substitute academics in summer season college. But I used to get $25 to $30 a day throughout the winter, instructing phys ed within the center college — sixth, seventh and eighth grade. Lots of days, I discovered myself in math and science. When you’re a sub, you are taking what they’ve.”
Hodges was behind the plate for Seaver’s return to the Mets on opening day of the 1983 season after the star spent 5 1/2 seasons with Cincinnati. Because of accidents to John Stearns, Hodges performed 110 video games that yr, his solely season with greater than 80.
Hodges is survived by spouse Peggy; sons Riley, Gray, Nat and Casey; sisters Aubrey, Carmen, Pat and Donna; and two grandchildren. Funeral preparations had been pending.
