Rusty Staub

Rusty Staub
Staub at Citi Field in 2010.
Right fielder / Designated hitter / First baseman
Born: (1944-04-01) April 1, 1944 New Orleans, Louisiana
Batted: Left Threw: Right
MLB debut
April 9, 1963, for the Houston Colt .45s
Last MLB appearance
October 6, 1985, for the New York Mets
MLB statistics
Batting average	.279
Hits	2,716
Home runs	292
Runs batted in	1,466
Teams
Houston Colt .45s / Astros (1963–1968) Montreal Expos (1969–1971) New York Mets (1972–1975) Detroit Tigers (1976–1979) Montreal Expos (1979) Texas Rangers (1980) New York Mets (1981–1985)
Career highlights and awards
6× All-Star (1967–1971, 1976) Montreal Expos #10 retired New York Mets Hall of Fame

Daniel Joseph "Rusty" Staub (born April 1, 1944) is an American former Major League Baseball right fielder, designated hitter, and first baseman. He enjoyed a 23-year baseball career with 5 different teams. He was an original member of the Montreal Expos and that team's first star; though the Expos traded him after only 3 years, his enduring popularity led them to retire his number in 1993.

Playing career

Houston Colt .45s/Astros

Staub signed his first professional contract with the expansion team Houston Colt .45s organization in 1961.^[1] He spent the 1962 season in the Class B Carolina League, and at season's end he was named one of the league's all-stars.^[2] Following that season, Staub was signed to a US$100,000 Major League contract under the Bonus Rule.^[3] In his first season, at only 19 years of age, Staub played regularly, splitting time between first base and the outfield, but hit only .220. He became only the second major league rookie since 1900 to play 150 games as a teenager; the first had been Bob Kennedy, also 19, with the Chicago White Sox in 1940.^[4] The following season, he hit only .216 for the Colts and was sent down to the minor leagues at one point.^[5] His numbers began to steadily improve in the 1965 season for the now-renamed Astros, and he had a breakout 1967 season, where he led the league in doubles with 44 and was selected to the All-Star team. He was also an All-Star for the Astros in 1968.

Montreal Expos

Staub was traded to the Expos before the start of their inaugural season in 1969 as part of a trade for Donn Clendenon and Jesús Alou.^[1] The trade became a source of controversy as Clendenon refused to report to the Astros and attempted to retire; the deal had to be resolved by Commissioner of Baseball Bowie Kuhn who ruled that the deal was official, but that Clendenon was to stay with the Expos. Montreal eventually dealt Jack Billingham, Skip Guinn, and $100,000 as compensation.^[6]

He was embraced as the expansion team's first star, and became one of the most popular players in their history. Embraced by French Canadians because he learned their language,^[7] he was nicknamed "Le Grand Orange" for his red hair (his more common nickname of "Rusty" has the same origin). The #10 worn by Staub during his first stint in Montreal was the first number retired by the Montreal Expos organization. He is also the franchise's career leader in on-base percentage (.402), among players with 2,000 or more plate appearances with the franchise.^[8] He is also the first player to win the Expos Player of the Year award.

New York Mets

After three seasons in Montreal, the New York Mets made a blockbuster trade for Staub in 1972 in exchange for first baseman-outfielder Mike Jorgensen, shortstop Tim Foli, and outfielder Ken Singleton.^[1] He was batting .313 for the Mets until June 3 of that year, when he was hit by a pitch from future teammate George Stone of the Atlanta Braves, fracturing his right wrist in the process. He played through the pain until X-Rays revealed the broken bone. Surgery was required and as a result, he went on the disabled list and didn't return to the line-up until September 18, 1972.

The injury never quite healed right and to make matters worse, he was hit by a pitch from Ramón Hernández of the Pittsburgh Pirates (on the left hand this time) early in the 1973 season. But he still led the team in RBI's. In the National League Championship Series against the Cincinnati Reds, Staub hit three home runs and had five runs batted in. In game 4 however he made an outstanding play defensively, when he robbed Dan Driessen of an extra-base hit in the 11th inning. But while making the catch in right field, he crashed into the fence extremely hard and separated his right shoulder.^[9] The resulting injury to his shoulder forced him out of the line-up for game 5. The Mets went on to beat the heavily favored Reds to win the National League Pennant in 5 games. In the World Series the shoulder injury sat him out for game one. But he returned to the line-up for game two. The resulting injury forced him to throw underhanded and rather weakly in the World Series.^[9] Despite the injury, he batted .423 against the Oakland Athletics including a home run and six runs batted in. And for the 1973 post season he batted .341 with 4 home runs and 11 runs batted in.

In 1974 he finally had an injury free season. He led the team in hits, runs batted in, and at bats.

In 1975, he set a Mets record with 105 runs batted in—the first Met player ever to surpass 100 RBIs—that would not be matched until 1986, when it was tied by Gary Carter, and not surpassed until 1990 when Darryl Strawberry recorded 108.^[10]

Detroit Tigers

Before the 1976 season, he was traded to the Detroit Tigers with pitcher Bill Laxton for pitcher Mickey Lolich and outfielder Billy Baldwin.^[1]

In his three plus seasons with the Tigers, Staub hit .277 with 70 home runs and 358 runs batted in.^[11] He was voted to start the 1976 All-Star Game, where he went 2-for-2.

In 1978, Staub became the first player to play in all 162 regular-season games exclusively as a designated hitter.^[12] Not playing the field at all proved beneficial, as Staub finished second in the Major Leagues with 121 RBI and finished fifth in American League Most Valuable Player voting. He was selected to the Sporting News American League All-Star team at the end of the season as the designated hitter.^[13]

Staub held out to start the 1979 season,^[6] and eventually he was dealt to the Montreal Expos in July of that same season.^[1]

Later career

After spending the 1980 season with the Texas Rangers, Staub returned to the Mets in 1981 as a free agent and served as a player-coach in 1982. In 1983, he tied a National League record with eight straight pinch-hits and that same season also tied the Major League record of 25 RBIs by a pinch hitter.^[9] In his last at bat in the season Staub hit a three-run home run off the LHP Dave Roberts to push his average to .300 for the season.

Retirement and honors

Rusty Staub's number 10 was retired by the Montreal Expos in 1993.

Staub's career ended at the age of 41 in 1985. He was only 284 hits shy of the 3000 hit milestone. He was the only major league player to have 500 hits with four different teams.^[9] He, Ty Cobb, Alex Rodriguez and Gary Sheffield share the distinction of being the only players to hit home runs before turning 20 years old, and after turning 40 years old.^[14][15]

Staub was inducted into the New York Mets Hall of Fame in 1986. In 2004, he received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Niagara University.^[16] Jesuit High School, where Rusty graduated, annually gives the Rusty Staub Award to the leader of the varsity baseball team.^[17] In 2006, Staub was inducted into the Texas Baseball Hall of Fame ^[15] and six years later, in 2012, he was inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame.^[18] On May 26, 2012, the New York Mets featured a Rusty Staub promotional giveaway bobblehead as part of their 50th anniversary celebration.^[19]

Career outside baseball

Staub established the "Rusty Staub Foundation" to do charitable works, and in 1986, founded the New York Police and Fire Widows' and Children's Benefit Fund. During its first 15 years of existence, the Fund raised and distributed $11 million for families of policemen and firefighters killed in the line of duty.^[20] Since September 11, 2001, Staub's organization has received contributions in excess of $112 million,^[20] and has played a vital role in helping many families affected by the attack. Staub went on to work as a television announcer for Mets ball games.

He owned and ran two well-received restaurants in Manhattan, New York City. Rusty Staub's opened in 1977, and Rusty Staub's on Fifth in 1989.^[21] Both have since closed. In July 2006, Staub teamed with Mascot Books to publish his first children's book, Hello, Mr. Met.

See also

• List of Major League Baseball career home run leaders
• List of Major League Baseball career hits leaders
• List of Major League Baseball career doubles leaders
• List of Major League Baseball career runs scored leaders
• List of Major League Baseball annual doubles leaders
• List of Major League Baseball career runs batted in leaders

References

External links

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube