Mar
2
2012

Mets Memories 1964 – Ron Hunt, Pete Rose and Bobby Klaus

An article by Barry Duchan

In the 1963 NL Rookie Of The Year voting, the top two were both second basemen – Pete Rose of the Reds and Ron Hunt with the Mets. Neither had been expected to even make it to the big leagues that season. Rose had just finished a great season in the minors, but it was at Class A Macon. Hunt was a conditional purchase from the Braves after a good season in the Texas League. Going into the 1963 season, veteran Don Blasingame was the incumbent for the Reds and Larry Burright, who had just come over from the Dodgers was expected to win the Mets’ 2B job.

In 1964, Hunt surpassed Rose (very temporarily) when he was voted as starter on the NL All-Star team which was played at Shea Stadium. Hunt had an outstanding year, finishing the season at .303, and being named the second baseman on the post-season Sporting News All-Star team as well. Hunt and Rose remain forever linked for another less-remembered reason. Despite their great rookie years, both were briefly supplanted by Bobby Klaus.

Klaus had been the All-Star second baseman in the Pacific Coast League and certainly seemed ready for the majors, but the Reds weren’t yet prepared to move Pete Rose to another position. Klaus had a reputation as a great defensive second baseman and a decent hitter. Rose began the 1964 season struggling to get his average above .220. So the Reds gave Bobby Klaus a brief shot at the job. But on June 27th and 28th, Rose had 8 hits in 9 at bats, raising his average from .214 to .240 and although he did go back into a slump for a while, it was clear that the Reds were sticking with Rose.

Meanwhile, Klaus still seemed like a pretty good prospect. Now, the Mets of 1964 certainly needed a lot of help. But if there was one spot that seemed to be in good hands, it was surely second base. Yet less than 2 weeks after Ron Hunt started the All Star game, the Mets purchased Bobby Klaus from the Reds, immediately installed him at second base, and moved Hunt (who had played some third base in the minors) over to third. I’m not sure how Hunt took this, but to Met fans it seemed like a pretty stupid move at the time.

The experiment lasted about a week, at which time, Hunt moved back to second and Klaus moved to third. Even though he hit around .220, pretty bad no matter how good his defense may have been, Klaus hung around for another season and filled in when Ron Hunt suffered through an injury-filled season in 1965, but was eventually dealt away when Hunt returned. Bobby Klaus had a fairly brief and undistinguished major league career, but in one season he was given a shot to replace both Pete Rose, who of course, went on to become baseball’s all-time hit leader, and Ron Hunt, the Mets’ all star second baseman and their best and most popular player of that era.

Was this a case of scouting reports being given more credence than on-field performance ? Did the Mets really think that Hunt’s future was at third base ? Was Hunt really a much worse fielder than I remember ? If anyone can recall more about this move, please leave a comment.

About the Author: Barry Duchan

I've been following the Mets since 1962. Have to admit I was a Yankee fan as a kid, but I found it to be so much more interesting to see how a young team could build itself up rather than following a team where the season didn't really begin until October. I remember them all - Casey, Marv, ChooChoo, Don Bosch, The Stork, etc. As the years went on, I became more and more of a Mets fan, and a Yankee hater once Steinbrenner and Billy Martin entered the picture. After retiring, I relocated with my family from Long Island to Chapel Hill, NC in 2005. I spend a lot of my time now checking out all the various Mets blogs. Fortunately, I still get to watch almost all of the Mets games (except those that are blacked out here).

5 Comments + Add Comment

t agee March 2, 2012 at 1:40 pm

I was too young to remember Ron Hunt on the Mets but I always remember Lindsey Nelson, Ralph Kiner and Bob Murphy talking about Ron being the NL All Star at 2B when the game was at Shea Stadium and how he was the first Met “star.”

I remember him most for being an Expos and leading the league in HBP every year.

I can also remember him being interviewed by Lindsey and saying about the fans “heck we were all young and they were all young it had to pump you up,”
Joey D. March 2, 2012 at 2:11 pm

Great memories, Barry and boy do I remember both those players well.

Klaus hit the walk off homer that won the third game of the 1965 season, an extra innng win against Houston and the earliest time the Mets had even won their first game of the year. Before that he hit a deep fly that went foul.

We waited with anxious moments until the player voting for the all-star lineup was announced and were, of course, overjoyed that Ron got it. He got a standing ovation that July at Shea and singled off of Dean Chance (the next non-pitcher to be voted onto the squad was Jerry Grote in 1968). In fact, he also homered off of Sandy Koufax in the bottom of the ninth inning of a game I was at in the Polo Grounds – just too bad I missed it since my older brother had us leave in the top of the ninth.

Hunt’s injury plagued 1965 season came at a play at second when the Cardinals’ Phil Gagliano slid hard into Hunt and separated his shoulder. Fans booed Gagliano unmercifully not just for the rest of the game for the next two years every time he made a plate appearance.

Casey often played Hunt at third (he opened the 1964 season at third with ex-Dodger Larry Burwight gettng the shot at second. Why Casey had him play a stretch at third later on that season I don’t know, considering the base was anchored by the team’s eventual home run leader, Charlie Smith (who had 20 after coming over from the White Sox).

BTW – am I right that Hunts card is from the 1966 series? Even though I recognize the graphics, the other give-away is that the Mets didn’t have uniform numbers on the front of their jersey’s until the 1965 season and the pictures were mostly taken the season before.

Great memories, thanks Barry.
Mr North Jersey March 2, 2012 at 5:54 pm

Off Topic: Just want to give a quick shout out to Mr Joe D. Hope the surgery went well. Take care and get back soon.
- Petey Pete March 2, 2012 at 9:40 pm
  
  Yes Joe, speedy recovery my friend.
srt March 3, 2012 at 12:23 pm

As a fan since ’68 just a tad bit too young to have watched Ron Hunt play as a NY Met.

I remember Ron Hunt well though – even has a kid. Had a fascination with him seemingly always getting hit by a pitch.

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