Rusty Staub

Daniel Joseph "Rusty" Staub (born April 1, 1944 in New Orleans, Louisiana) was a Major League Baseball player for 23 seasons (1963-1985) with the Houston Colt .45s and Astros, Montreal Expos, New York Mets, Detroit Tigers, and Texas Rangers. He batted left-handed and threw right-handed.

Related Topics:
April 1 - 1944 - New Orleans, Louisiana - Major League Baseball - 1963 - 1985 - Houston Colt .45s and Astros - Montreal Expos - New York Mets - Detroit Tigers - Texas Rangers

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After being named the Carolina League's "Most Valuable Player" for 1962, Rusty Staub received a $100,000 bonus from the Astros (then named the Colt .45s) and debuted as a 19-year-old rookie in 1963. By 1967, when he led the league in doubles with 44, his compact left-handed stroke and line drive hitting ability had made him an all-star. He would also make All Star teams in 1968-70 and 1976.

Related Topics:
Carolina League's - Most Valuable Player - 1963 - 1967 - 1968 - 70 - 1976

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Traded to the Expos before the start of the 1969 season, he was embraced as the expansion team's first star and became one of the most popular players in that franchise's history. Embraced by French-Canadians because he made the effort to learn their language, he was nicknamed "Le Grande Orange" for his red hair (his more common nickname of "Rusty" has the same origin). Staub's #10 jersey was the first number ever retired by the Montreal Expos organization.

Related Topics:
Expos - 1969 - French-Canadians

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Moving on to the Mets in 1972, he was instrumental in the Mets upset 1973 League Championship Series victory when he robbed Dan Driessen of an extra base hit in the 11th inning, though the resulting injury to his arm forced him to throw underhand in that year's World Series. In 1975, he set a Mets record with 105 RBIs that would stand until 1987 and in 1983, set a record with eight straight pinch-hits. Rusty Staub wrapped up his career with the Mets at the age of 41 after stints with the Tigers and Rangers and a brief return to Montreal. He retired as the only major league player to have 500 hits with four different teams and he shares the distinction with Ty Cobb of being the only player to hit a home run before age 20 and after age 40.

Related Topics:
Mets - 1972 - 1973 - Dan Driessen - World Series - 1975 - RBI - 1987 - Montreal - Ty Cobb

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Following his retirement from baseball in 1985, Staub opened a New Orleans style restaurant in New York City and worked as an announcer for Mets ball games.

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A humanitarian, he established the "Rusty Staub Foundation" to do chartiable 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. Since September 11, 2001, Staub's organization has received contributions in excess of $112 million and has played a vital role in helping many families affected by the tragedy.

Related Topics:
Humanitarian - September 11, 2001

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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.

Related Topics:
New York Mets Hall of Fame - Niagara University

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YEAR TEAM AGE G AB R H 2B 3B HR HR% RBI BB SO SB CS AVG SLG OBA OPS

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1963 Colt .45s 19 150 513 43 115 17 4 6 1.17 45 59 58 0 0 .224 .308 .309 .617

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1964 Colt .45s 20 89 292 26 63 10 2 8 2.74 35 21 31 1 1 .216 .346 .272 .618

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1965 Astros 21 131 410 43 105 20 1 14 3.41 63 52 57 3 0 .256 .412 .339 .751

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1966 Astros 22 153 554 60 155 28 3 13 2.35 81 58 61 2 1 .280 .412 .345 .756

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1967 Astros 23 149 546 71 182 44 1 10 1.83 74 60 47 0 4 .333 .473 .398 .871

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1968 Astros 24 161 591 54 172 37 1 6 1.02 72 73 57 2 0 .291 .387 .373 .761

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1969 Expos 25 158 549 89 166 26 5 29 5.28 79 110 61 3 4 .302 .526 .426 .952

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1970 Expos 26 160 569 98 156 23 7 30 5.27 94 112 93 12 11 .274 .497 .394 .891

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1971 Expos 27 162 599 94 186 34 6 19 3.17 97 74 42 9 5 .311 .482 .392 .874

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1972 Mets 28 66 239 32 70 11 0 9 3.77 38 31 13 0 1 .293 .452 .372 .824

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1973 Mets 29 152 585 77 163 36 1 15 2.56 76 74 52 1 1 .279 .421 .361 .781

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1974 Mets 30 151 561 65 145 22 2 19 3.39 78 77 39 2 1 .258 .406 .347 .754

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1975 Mets 31 155 574 93 162 30 4 19 3.31 105 77 55 2 0 .282 .448 .371 .818

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1976 Tigers 32 161 589 73 176 28 3 15 2.55 96 83 49 3 1 .299 .433 .386 .818

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1977 Tigers 33 158 623 84 173 34 3 22 3.53 101 59 47 1 1 .278 .448 .336 .784

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1978 Tigers 34 162 642 75 175 30 1 24 3.74 121 76 35 3 1 .273 .435 .347 .782

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1979 Tigers 35 68 246 32 58 12 1 9 3.66 40 32 18 1 0 .236 .402 .331 .733

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Expos 35 38 86 9 23 3 0 3 3.49 14 14 10 0 0 .267 .407 .366 .773

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TOTALS 106 332 41 81 15 1 12 3.61 54 46 28 1 0 .244 .404 .340 .744

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1980 Rangers 36 109 340 42 102 23 2 9 2.65 55 39 18 1 1 .300 .459 .370 .828

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1981 Mets 37 70 161 9 51 9 0 5 3.11 21 22 12 1 0 .317 .466 .398 .864

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1982 Mets 38 112 219 11 53 9 0 3 1.37 27 24 10 0 0 .242 .324 .309 .633

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1983 Mets 39 104 115 5 34 6 0 3 2.61 28 14 10 0 0 .296 .426 .371 .797

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1984 Mets 40 78 72 2 19 4 0 1 1.39 18 4 9 0 0 .264 .361 .291 .652

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1985 Mets 41 54 45 2 12 3 0 1 2.22 8 10 4 0 0 .267 .400 .400 .800

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TOTALS 2951 9720 1189 2716 499 47 292 3.00 1466 1255 888 47 33 .279 .431 .362 .793

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LG AVERAGE 9516 1179 2488 394 72 215 2.26 1096 904 1391 167 95 .261 .386 .327 .713

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POS AVERAGE 9640 1268 2583 437 67 293 3.04 1289 998 1498 138 83 .268 .418 .338 .756

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YEAR TEAM RC RCAA RCAP OWP RC/G TB EBH ISO SEC BPA IBB HBP SAC SF GIDP OUTS PA POS

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1963 Colt .45s 50 -8 -10 .426 3.25 158 27 .084 .199 .366 8 5 6 2 10 416 585 1B

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1964 Colt .45s 27 -10 -11 .359 3.04 101 20 .130 .202 .372 4 3 0 4 6 240 320 1B

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1965 Astros 56 9 -1 .572 4.61 169 35 .156 .290 .446 5 2 1 5 17 328 470 RF

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1966 Astros 78 10 1 .558 4.92 228 44 .132 .238 .443 13 1 7 8 13 428 628 RF

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1967 Astros 99 41 30 .722 6.77 258 55 .139 .242 .491 21 3 6 6 15 395 621 RF

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1968 Astros 87 26 18 .652 5.33 229 44 .096 .223 .444 24 7 7 4 11 441 682 1B

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1969 Expos 126 58 40 .749 8.40 289 60 .224 .423 .589 11 9 4 1 13 405 673 RF

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1970 Expos 116 34 23 .649 7.02 283 60 .223 .422 .570 11 3 11 4 7 446 699 RF

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1971 Expos 111 40 34 .690 6.70 289 59 .172 .302 .517 13 9 3 5 21 447 690 RF

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1972 Mets 41 14 12 .681 6.12 108 20 .159 .285 .487 7 2 1 5 5 181 278 RF

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1973 Mets 88 15 -2 .579 5.36 246 52 .142 .268 .462 10 3 1 3 16 443 666 RF

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1974 Mets 78 6 -5 .528 4.72 228 43 .148 .287 .444 12 3 1 7 21 446 649 RF

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1975 Mets 96 27 13 .639 5.89 257 53 .166 .303 .489 14 9 1 9 18 440 670 RF

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1976 Tigers 98 29 25 .652 5.91 255 46 .134 .278 .470 11 7 0 11 23 448 690 RF

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1977 Tigers 88 0 -12 .495 4.85 279 59 .170 .265 .450 4 1 2 10 27 490 695 DH

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1978 Tigers 95 8 10 .536 5.08 279 55 .162 .283 .459 5 3 2 11 24 505 734 DH

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1979 Tigers 33 -1 -2 .484 4.41 99 22 .167 .301 .446 1 5 1 4 9 202 288 DH

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Expos 13 1 0 .546 5.24 35 6 .140 .302 .455 3 0 0 1 3 67 101 1B

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TOTALS 46 0 -2 .500 4.62 134 28 .160 .301 .448 4 5 1 5 12 269 389

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1980 Rangers 55 11 9 .597 5.67 156 34 .159 .274 .468 3 2 1 6 16 262 388 DH

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1981 Mets 30 11 9 .691 6.86 75 14 .149 .292 .500 3 1 0 2 6 118 186 1B

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1982 Mets 21 -9 -13 .340 3.10 71 12 .082 .192 .341 1 0 1 6 10 183 250 1B

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1983 Mets 18 4 2 .598 5.59 49 9 .130 .252 .455 3 1 0 2 4 87 132 1B

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1984 Mets 8 -1 -2 .428 3.79 26 5 .097 .153 .367 3 0 0 3 1 57 79 1B

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1985 Mets 7 2 1 .622 5.56 18 4 .133 .356 .491 3 0 0 0 1 34 55 RF

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TOTALS 1519 317 169 .600 5.46 4185 838 .151 .282 .469 193 79 56 119 297 7509 11229

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LG AVERAGE 1211 0 0 .500 4.36 3671 681 .124 .227 .425 108 58 94 77 216 7509 10649

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POS AVERAGE 1361 148 0 .546 4.90 4034 797 .150 .260 .456 131 60 55 84 231 7509 10836

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