Athletes - Rusty Staub

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	Athletes - 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.

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.

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.

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.

After the 1975 campaign Rusty was traded to the Detroit Tigers for Mickey Lolich in a swap of superstars. In 3+ seasons with the Tigers, Rusty knocked in 358 runs, was voted to start the 1976 All-Star game.

In 1978, Staub became the first player to play in all 162 regular-season games exclusively as a designated hitter. Not playing the field at all proved beneficial as Staub finished second in the Major Leagues with 121 RBI. He was also named as the Designated Hitter on The Sporting News 1978 AL All-Star team. Rusty held out to start the 1979 campaign and this resulted in him being dealt to the Montreal Expos in July of that same season. This would mark the end of Staub being an everyday player in the Major Leagues.

Staub returned to the Mets in 1981 as a free agent after spending the 1980 season with the Texas Rangers. 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 Rbi's by a Pinch Hitter. Rusty Staub wrapped up his career with the Mets at the age of 41 in 1985. 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.

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.

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.

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.

YEAR TEAM AGE G AB R H 2B 3B HR HR% RBI BB SO SB CS AVG SLG OBA OPS 1963 Colt .45s 19 150 513 43 115 17 4 6 1.17 45 59 58 0 0 .224 .308 .309 .617 1964 Colt .45s 20 89 292 26 63 10 2 8 2.74 35 21 31 1 1 .216 .346 .272 .618 1965 Astros 21 131 410 43 105 20 1 14 3.41 63 52 57 3 0 .256 .412 .339 .751 1966 Astros 22 153 554 60 155 28 3 13 2.35 81 58 61 2 1 .280 .412 .345 .756 1967 Astros 23 149 546 71 182 44 1 10 1.83 74 60 47 0 4 .333 .473 .398 .871 1968 Astros 24 161 591 54 172 37 1 6 1.02 72 73 57 2 0 .291 .387 .373 .761 1969 Expos 25 158 549 89 166 26 5 29 5.28 79 110 61 3 4 .302 .526 .426 .952 1970 Expos 26 160 569 98 156 23 7 30 5.27 94 112 93 12 11 .274 .497 .394 .891 1971 Expos 27 162 599 94 186 34 6 19 3.17 97 74 42 9 5 .311 .482 .392 .874 1972 Mets 28 66 239 32 70 11 0 9 3.77 38 31 13 0 1 .293 .452 .372 .824 1973 Mets 29 152 585 77 163 36 1 15 2.56 76 74 52 1 1 .279 .421 .361 .781 1974 Mets 30 151 561 65 145 22 2 19 3.39 78 77 39 2 1 .258 .406 .347 .754 1975 Mets 31 155 574 93 162 30 4 19 3.31 105 77 55 2 0 .282 .448 .371 .818 1976 Tigers 32 161 589 73 176 28 3 15 2.55 96 83 49 3 1 .299 .433 .386 .818 1977 Tigers 33 158 623 84 173 34 3 22 3.53 101 59 47 1 1 .278 .448 .336 .784 1978 Tigers 34 162 642 75 175 30 1 24 3.74 121 76 35 3 1 .273 .435 .347 .782 1979 Tigers 35 68 246 32 58 12 1 9 3.66 40 32 18 1 0 .236 .402 .331 .733 Expos 35 38 86 9 23 3 0 3 3.49 14 14 10 0 0 .267 .407 .366 .773 TOTALS 106 332 41 81 15 1 12 3.61 54 46 28 1 0 .244 .404 .340 .744 1980 Rangers 36 109 340 42 102 23 2 9 2.65 55 39 18 1 1 .300 .459 .370 .828 1981 Mets 37 70 161 9 51 9 0 5 3.11 21 22 12 1 0 .317 .466 .398 .864 1982 Mets 38 112 219 11 53 9 0 3 1.37 27 24 10 0 0 .242 .324 .309 .633 1983 Mets 39 104 115 5 34 6 0 3 2.61 28 14 10 0 0 .296 .426 .371 .797 1984 Mets 40 78 72 2 19 4 0 1 1.39 18 4 9 0 0 .264 .361 .291 .652 1985 Mets 41 54 45 2 12 3 0 1 2.22 8 10 4 0 0 .267 .400 .400 .800 TOTALS 2951 9720 1189 2716 499 47 292 3.00 1466 1255 888 47 33 .279 .431 .362 .793 LG AVERAGE 9516 1179 2488 394 72 215 2.26 1096 904 1391 167 95 .261 .386 .327 .713 POS AVERAGE 9640 1268 2583 437 67 293 3.04 1289 998 1498 138 83 .268 .418 .338 .756

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Athletes - Rusty Staub

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