When I met with Ron Hunt last November and discussed the Parkinson’s Disease he was battling, I asked him if he wanted Mets fans from way back to pray for him.
“No,” Hunt said. “Just tell them I said hi. I don’t know them. They don’t know me personally. Just tell them I said hi. I’ll never forget you.”
The response to that story, with fans emailing me to express their love and support for him, was easily the largest I’ve seen — well, at least in terms of good-hearted reaction — in my professional career. And if you’re in town this weekend, you can tell Hunt for yourself how much he meant and still means to you.
The Mets, as part of their new alumni initiative run by beloved team executive Jay Horwitz, are flying in Hunt as well as former reliever Skip Lockwood as this weekend’s guest alums. They’ll be at the Mets’ games Friday night and Saturday night at Citi Field, and on Friday from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., they’ll greet fans at the Mets’ Hall of Fame. Hunt can’t sign autographs anymore because of his medical condition, but rest assured he’ll give you his full attention and if you’re lucky, he might even utter a swear word or two.
He’ll be joined by his wife Jackie and children Tracy and Ron Jr., and the fun for the family will actually start Thursday, when a Long Island friend named Charlie Hinkaty has prepared a party of about 40 people to welcome the Hunts back to New York. That’s a pretty good showing, considering that the Hunts haven’t lived in the area since the Mets traded him to the Dodgers in November 1966. It’s because Hunt kept tallying friends long after he tallied hit by pitches. Hinkaty, for example, first met Hunt about 15 years ago and now they’re extremely close.
I spoke with Hunt, now 78, on Monday and asked him if he was excited to see the fans again. He sounded as he usually does: More preoccupied with the logistics and making sure everything goes well. But there’s no doubt that when he’s at the ballpark and starts hearing from folks about how much they enjoyed watching him play, he’ll be smiling. Just as he said back in November, he’ll never forget that love.
— Last week’s Pop Quiz question came from from Paul Juers of Queens: The actor George Raft (“Some Like It Hot”) worked as a batboy for a major-league team as a youngster. Name the team.
— I haven’t read the book “Roadside Baseball,” but I did listen to an episode of the companion podcast, and it was terrific. If you’re tired of talking about labor strife, injuries and launch angles and just want to enjoy baseball’s basic qualities that bind generations, this is for you.
— Your Pop Quiz answer is the New York Highlanders, who later changed their name to the Yankees.
If you have a tidbit that connects baseball with popular culture, please send it to me at kdavidoff@nypost.com.
