Career

Hunt broke into the major leagues in 1963 as the Mets’ regular second baseman, batting .272 with 10 home runs, which would be his career high, and 42 runs batted in, which he would tie in 1964. That year, he also finished runner-up to Pete Rose for the National League Rookie of the Year honors. In 1964 he batted .303 and became the Mets’ first-ever starting All-Star representative, the game being played in Hunt's home ballpark, the newly opened Shea Stadium. He was also an All-Star representative in 1966.

In November 1966 Hunt and Jim Hickman were traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Tommy Davis. After batting .263 during the 1967 season, Hunt was traded again, this time to the San Francisco Giants in the same deal that sent Tom Haller to Los Angeles. The deal was the first between the two teams since they moved to the West Coast, and also the first since the one that would have sent Jackie Robinson to the Giants; Robinson reportedly retired rather than report with his new team.

In his first season with the Giants 1968, Hunt batted .250 with two home runs. The second came off Bob Gibson the first inning of the Giants' September 17 game against the St. Louis Cardinals and accounted for the only run in Gaylord Perry's no-hitter.

After two more seasons in San Francisco, Hunt was traded to the Montreal Expos. In nearly four seasons in Montreal, he batted .277, including a career high .309 in 1973. Late in the 1974 season, he was waived to his hometown St. Louis Cardinals, with whom he closed out his career after playing 12 games. The Cardinals brought Hunt to Spring training in 1975, but released him in March. He retired forthwith.

In his 12-year career Hunt batted .273 with 39 home runs and 370 RBIs in 1483 games played. He was also one of the most difficult batters to strike out, fanning 382 times in 5235 at-bats, or once in every 13.70 at-bats. In 1973, he set an Expos record by only striking out 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.

Hit by pitches

Hunt, whose motto was, “Some people give their bodies to science; I give mine to baseball,” was hit by pitches more often than anyone during his playing days. He led the National League in getting hit by pitches in each of his final seven Major League seasons; in all but his final season (1974), he was the Major League HBP leader, his 16 "plunks" outdone only by Bobby Grich’s 20. He was hit by 25 pitches in 1968, 25 in 1969, 26 in 1970, 50 in 1971, 26 in 1972 and 24 in 1973.

Hunt said in a July 2000 interview with Baseball Digest that he really began to get hit by pitches after being traded to San Francisco. "But," Hunt asked, "why would you hit me to face Willie Mays, Willie McCovey and Jim Ray Hart?"

In 1971, 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 (Hughie Jennings holds first place, with 51 hit by pitches in 1886). Hunt, who batted right-handed, would stand with his "left arm hanging over the plate" and allow himself to be hit to make up for his lack of hitting power. On June 25, he was hit three times during a doubleheader. He had the habit of tossing back the ball that had hit him to the pitcher.

On September 29, 1971, against the Chicago Cubs at Jarry Park, Hunt was hit by a Milt Pappas pitch to give him 50 on the season, obliterating the post-1900 record of 31 by Steve Evans. Pappas argued to home plate umpire Ken Burkhart that the pitch was directly over the plate, that Hunt got hit by the ball without even trying to get out of the way. Earlier in the year, Pappas had also contributed #27 in the Hunt collection, prompting Cub manager Leo Durocher to cry foul after home plate umpire Augie Donatelli awarded Hunt first base on that pitch. Cincinnati Reds manager Sparky Anderson had a similar complaint after Hunt was hit by a Jim McGlothlin pitch on August 7 of that year; the HBP was Hunt's 32nd of the season, which broke the National League record set by Steve Evans of the 1910 St. Louis Cardinals.

On April 29, 1969, Hunt tied a Major League record with three HBPs in a game against the Cincinnati Reds. At the time, he was only the fifth player to be hit by a pitch three times in one game. The feat has since been done 17 times as of the end of the 2013 season.

Upon his retirement, his 243 HBPs were a career record. Don Baylor would break that record in 1987 and retire with 267 HBPs. Craig Biggio would break Baylor’s career record in 2005 and retire at the end of the 2007 season with 285 HBPs.

Personal

Since 1986, Hunt has operated an instructional baseball camp in Wentzville, Missouri.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]