Willard Mitchell Hunter (March 8, 1935 – February 3, 2021) was an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who ...

who pitched in the Major Leagues in and for the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

and

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

. Of his 69 games pitched over parts of two seasons in MLB, all but one came as a member of the Mets. He threw

left-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to it being stronger, faster or more dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply less subject ...

, batted

right-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to it being stronger, faster or more dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply less subjecti ...

, and was listed as tall and . In 1964, Hunter became the second Met pitcher to record two wins in a single day. ( Craig Anderson had performed the feat first in 1962.) On August 23, 1964, Hunter pitched at the back end of both games of a doubleheader against the Chicago Cubs at

Shea Stadium Shea Stadium (), formally known as William A. Shea Municipal Stadium, was a multi-purpose stadium in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park, Queens, New York City.

. He gave up no hits or runs in 1 total innings pitched, and in both cases, the Mets rallied to give Hunter the win. Hunter had only three wins for the Mets that season—four in his MLB career—and two came on a single day. Born in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.Wake Forest University Wake Forest University is a private research university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Founded in 1834, the university received its name from its original location in Wake Forest, north of Raleigh, North Carolina. The Reynolda Campus, the un ...

and signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers in time for the 1955 season. He spent six full years in minor league baseball before making the Dodgers' opening-season 28-man roster in 1962. In his MLB debut, a mop-up assignment against the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Y ...

Candlestick Park Candlestick Park was an outdoor stadium on the West Coast of the United States, located in San Francisco's Bayview Heights area. The stadium was originally the home of Major League Baseball's San Francisco Giants, who played there from 1960 ...

, Hunter entered the game in the sixth inning with Los Angeles trailing, 9–1; he was already the Dodgers' fourth pitcher of the day. He lasted two innings, but gave up ten runs, nine of them earned, on six hits and four bases on balls. He was removed for pinch hitter Frank Howard in the Dodgers' eighth inning. San Francisco ended up winning, 19–8. Hunter then was sent to the Triple-A

Omaha Dodgers The Omaha Dodgers were a Minor League Baseball team of the American Association and the Triple-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers from 1961 to 1962. They were located in Omaha, Nebraska. The team was Omaha's second American Association franc ...

, spent a month in the

American Association American Association may refer to: Baseball * American Association (1882–1891), a major league active from 1882 to 1891 * American Association (1902–1997), a minor league active from 1902 to 1962 and 1969 to 1997 * American Association of Profe ...

, and on May 25 was assigned to the Mets as the

player to be named later In Major League Baseball, a player to be named later (PTBNL) is an unnamed player involved in exchange or "trade" of players between teams. The terms of a trade are not finalized until a later date, most often following the conclusion of the seaso ...

in the December 15, 1961, trade in which Los Angeles acquired

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to c ...

Lee Walls Raymond Lee Walls Jr. (January 6, 1933 – October 11, 1993) was an American professional baseball player, an outfielder who appeared in Major League Baseball (MLB) between and as a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates, Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds ...

. He then worked in 27 games for the Mets, including six as a starting pitcher. He was credited with a complete game on June 20 in a rain-shortened, six-inning contest against the Milwaukee Braves at the Polo Grounds, but Milwaukee won 3–2 with Hunter absorbing the loss. It was the only complete game of Hunter's big-league career. After Hunter spent the entire season and the outset of 1964 with the Triple-A

Buffalo Bisons The Buffalo Bisons (known colloquially as the Herd) are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Located in Buffalo, New York, the team plays their home games at Sahlen ...

, he returned to the Mets in June 1964. In 41 games pitched, all of them in

relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term '' relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...

, he split six total decisions and recorded five saves. His professional career ended with Buffalo in 1965. In Hunter's 69 MLB games and 114 innings pitched, he allowed 127 hits and 47 bases on balls; he struck out 63. He compiled a 4–9 win–loss mark and 5.68

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

, with five saves. Hunter died on February 3, 2021, in

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest cit ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hunter, Willard 1935 births 2021 deaths Baseball players from Newark, New Jersey Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Green Bay Bluejays players Los Angeles Dodgers players Major League Baseball pitchers Montreal Royals players New York Mets players Omaha Dodgers players Shawnee Hawks players Victoria Rosebuds players Wichita Falls Spudders players