Ron Hodges, Former Mets Catcher, Dies at Age 74

Former New York Mets catcher Ron Hodges died Friday at Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital in Virginia following a short illness, team spokesman Jay Horwitz said, per the Associated Press (h/t ESPN). He was 74.

Hodges was selected by the Mets in the second round of the 1972 MLB January Draft-Secondary Phase out of Appalachian State and he made his debut with the franchise in 1973.

The Rocky Mount, Virginia, native spent his entire 12-year career with the Mets, appearing in 666 games. He slashed .240/.342/.322 with 19 home runs, 147 RBI and 10 stolen bases. One of his best seasons came in 1983 when he hit .260/.383/.308 with 21 RBI in 110 games.

The 1983 season was the only year Hodges appeared in more than 80 games for the Mets. He also happened to catch Tom Seaver's return to New York on Opening Day that year after the Hall of Famer spent more than five seasons with the Cincinnati Reds.

Hodges played under seven different managers during his tenure in Flushing—Yogi Berra, Roy McMillan, Joe Frazier, Joe Torre, George Bamberger, Frank Howard and Davey Johnson. He also only played in one playoff game, which came during Game 1 of the 1973 World Series.

"Playing in that '73 season with the pennant drive in September is my favorite memory of my baseball career," Hodges said in a 2018 interview with the Society for American Baseball Research.