RIP Rusty Staub

[John B. Foster]

Damn.

 

[The Big Ragu]

More and more of these make me feel old. My dad raised me a Yankees fan, but my sister who is 8 years older than me loved the Mets. Rusty Staub was her favorite player.

RIP

 

[garrow]

Very sad. Never a Mets fan, but always like Rusty. Co-worker of mine is a proud alum of Rusty's high school and would talk a lot about him. RIP Rusty.

 

[Evil ... Thy name is Orville Redenbacher!!]

Damn indeed.

 

[The Big Ragu]

I was just thinking about him as a player. I know it is a cliche, but the description of him being "a professional hitter "fit perfectly. In terms of working a pitcher and then finding a way to get the bat on the ball for a hit, he was just plain good.

 

[John B. Foster]

I remember the original Rusty's on East 73rd St. Had some pretty good baby-back ribs there a few times.

 

[Corky Ramirez up on 94th St.]

If you've got two hours, why not watch a Yankees-Tigers game from 1976 (the day I was born!) to see Rusty play and hit a home run at Tiger Stadium:



RIP to Le Grande Orange.

 

[The Big Ragu]

If you've got two hours, why not watch a Yankees-Tigers game from 1976 (the day I was born!) to see Rusty play and hit a home run at Tiger Stadium:



RIP to Le Grande Orange.

So. ... The best part of that video for me is Mark Fidrych on the mound. The way he was pitching, and him talking to the baseball, made him into a thing that season. I went to my first baseball games ever that season at the new Yankee Stadium. I saw Fydrich lose to the Yankees a few weeks later. It was a night game, which became a big deal, because as I found out in the subsequent years, my dad never felt comfortable doing night games. I remember it being a big crowd to see Fydrich. At my game, Fydrich gave up a home run to Oscar Gamble. I remember Ron LeFlore. I am not sure if Rusty Staub played.

 

[Webster]

I was too young to remember him in his first run with the Mets, but loved him as the wizened pinch hitter in his second run. Very few athletes were more involved with NYC charities or more beloved. RIP.

 

[typefitter]

I know most of you remember him as a Met, but he was a hugely popular figure in Montreal. (No "e" on Grand, Corky.) He learned French, lived close to the Forum, went to hockey games. A beloved figure up here.

 

[Baron Scicluna]

I was too young to remember him in his first run with the Mets, but loved him as the wizened pinch hitter in his second run. Very few athletes were more involved with NYC charities or more beloved. RIP.

Same here. Every time he came up as a pinch hitter, you knew the Mets had a chance. RIP.

 

[Fred siegle]

My favorite Mets player ever. RIP

 

[QYFW]

Le Ground Orange. RIP.

 

[Corky Ramirez up on 94th St.]

So. ... The best part of that video for me is Mark Fidrych on the mound. The way he was pitching, and him talking to the baseball, made him into a thing that season. I went to my first baseball games ever that season at the new Yankee Stadium. I saw Fydrich lose to the Yankees a few weeks later. It was a night game, which became a big deal, because as I found out in the subsequent years, my dad never felt comfortable doing night games. I remember it being a big crowd to see Fydrich. At my game, Fydrich gave up a home run to Oscar Gamble. I remember Ron LeFlore. I am not sure if Rusty Staub played.

Looks like you went to this game: Retrosheet Boxscore: New York Yankees 4, Detroit Tigers 3 Rusty did play, and had four walks!

And yes, that 6/28 game was the one that put Fidrych on the national map, because it was broadcast on ABC.

 

[CD Boogie]

if he'd stayed in the AL and gotten those 284 hits to reach 3,000, he'd probably be a Hall of Famer.
Rusty Staub, beloved Mets icon, dead at 73

Staub and Ty Cobb, Alex Rodriguez and Gary Sheffield are the only four players in history to hit home runs in the majors before turning 20 years old and after turning 40....

Although Staub spent the last five seasons of his career with the Mets and flourished as pinch-hitter extraordinaire while burnishing his rep as one of their most popular and beloved players ever, he was never a regular again. In 1986, he was elected to the Mets Hall of Fame (ironically with Bud Harrelson who recently revealed he has Alzheimer's Disease), but in later years he frequently lamented his decision to sign with the Mets and not finish his career in the American League. "Cashen lied to me," he said. "I wasn't ready to be a backup player. I still had a lot of hits in me."

Conceivably, had he been able to patch things up with Campbell and stayed in Detroit, or signed with another AL team where he could be a full-time DH, he'd have easily gotten those extra 284 hits for 3,000 and a likely ticket to the Hall of Fame. As it was, the highest percentage he got in seven years the Hall-of-Fame ballot was 7.9%.​

 

[SpeedTchr]

His first team was the brand new Houston Astros. Great player from a bygone era.

 

[Slacker]

He's always an Expo in my head, too.

 

[The Big Ragu]

if he'd stayed in the AL and gotten those 284 hits to reach 3,000, he'd probably be a Hall of Famer.
Rusty Staub, beloved Mets icon, dead at 73

Staub and Ty Cobb, Alex Rodriguez and Gary Sheffield are the only four players in history to hit home runs in the majors before turning 20 years old and after turning 40....

Although Staub spent the last five seasons of his career with the Mets and flourished as pinch-hitter extraordinaire while burnishing his rep as one of their most popular and beloved players ever, he was never a regular again. In 1986, he was elected to the Mets Hall of Fame (ironically with Bud Harrelson who recently revealed he has Alzheimer's Disease), but in later years he frequently lamented his decision to sign with the Mets and not finish his career in the American League. "Cashen lied to me," he said. "I wasn't ready to be a backup player. I still had a lot of hits in me."

Conceivably, had he been able to patch things up with Campbell and stayed in Detroit, or signed with another AL team where he could be a full-time DH, he'd have easily gotten those extra 284 hits for 3,000 and a likely ticket to the Hall of Fame. As it was, the highest percentage he got in seven years the Hall-of-Fame ballot was 7.9%.​

That's a tough one. I have no idea if Cashen lied to him, but using common sense. ... The Mets had Keith Hernandez playing first base, so that wasn't happening. And my memory of Staub by then is that his uniform always looked like a button was about to burst, and even before then as an outfielder he always looked like he was running after fly balls in slow motion. I'm not sure what he was thinking if he really thought he was going to be an every day player.

 

[CD Boogie]

That's a tough one. I have no idea if Cashen lied to him, but using common sense. ... The Mets had Keith Hernandez playing first base, so that wasn't happening. And my memory of Staub by then is that his uniform always looked like a button was about to burst, and even before then as an outfielder he always looked like he was running after fly balls in slow motion. I'm not sure what he was thinking if he really thought he was going to be an every day player.

Staub rejoined the Mets in 1981. They didn't trade for Hernandez until the middle of 1983. As the article noted -- and I should have captioned that, too -- they had Staub and then went out and got Dave Kingman.

At any rate, if he got to 3,000, he'd be among the least-deserving inductees in Cooperstown. Great player for many years, but only one top 10 MVP vote. The Hall of Very Good. RIP, big red.

 

[The Big Ragu]

Staub rejoined the Mets in 1981. They didn't trade for Hernandez until the middle of 1983. As the article noted -- and I should have captioned that, too -- they had Staub and then went out and got Dave Kingman.

At any rate, if he got to 3,000, he'd be among the least-deserving inductees in Cooperstown. Great player for many years, but only one top 10 MVP vote. The Hall of Very Good. RIP, big red.

I was thinking he came back at the very end. I didn't remember it being 5 years, but yeah, now I am kind of remember it.