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 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.

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 

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

1963 Colt .45s      50   -8  -10  .426   3.25  158   27  .084  .199  .366   8   5   6   2  10   416   585  1B
1964 Colt .45s      27  -10  -11  .359   3.04  101   20  .130  .202  .372   4   3   0   4   6   240   320  1B
1965 Astros         56    9   -1  .572   4.61  169   35  .156  .290  .446   5   2   1   5  17   328   470  RF
1966 Astros         78   10    1  .558   4.92  228   44  .132  .238  .443  13   1   7   8  13   428   628  RF
1967 Astros         99   41   30  .722   6.77  258   55  .139  .242  .491  21   3   6   6  15   395   621  RF
1968 Astros         87   26   18  .652   5.33  229   44  .096  .223  .444  24   7   7   4  11   441   682  1B
1969 Expos         126   58   40  .749   8.40  289   60  .224  .423  .589  11   9   4   1  13   405   673  RF
1970 Expos         116   34   23  .649   7.02  283   60  .223  .422  .570  11   3  11   4   7   446   699  RF
1971 Expos         111   40   34  .690   6.70  289   59  .172  .302  .517  13   9   3   5  21   447   690  RF
1972 Mets           41   14   12  .681   6.12  108   20  .159  .285  .487   7   2   1   5   5   181   278  RF
1973 Mets           88   15   -2  .579   5.36  246   52  .142  .268  .462  10   3   1   3  16   443   666  RF
1974 Mets           78    6   -5  .528   4.72  228   43  .148  .287  .444  12   3   1   7  21   446   649  RF
1975 Mets           96   27   13  .639   5.89  257   53  .166  .303  .489  14   9   1   9  18   440   670  RF
1976 Tigers         98   29   25  .652   5.91  255   46  .134  .278  .470  11   7   0  11  23   448   690  RF
1977 Tigers         88    0  -12  .495   4.85  279   59  .170  .265  .450   4   1   2  10  27   490   695  DH
1978 Tigers         95    8   10  .536   5.08  279   55  .162  .283  .459   5   3   2  11  24   505   734  DH
1979 Tigers         33   -1   -2  .484   4.41   99   22  .167  .301  .446   1   5   1   4   9   202   288  DH
     Expos          13    1    0  .546   5.24   35    6  .140  .302  .455   3   0   0   1   3    67   101  1B
     TOTALS         46    0   -2  .500   4.62  134   28  .160  .301  .448   4   5   1   5  12   269   389 
1980 Rangers        55   11    9  .597   5.67  156   34  .159  .274  .468   3   2   1   6  16   262   388  DH
1981 Mets           30   11    9  .691   6.86   75   14  .149  .292  .500   3   1   0   2   6   118   186  1B
1982 Mets           21   -9  -13  .340   3.10   71   12  .082  .192  .341   1   0   1   6  10   183   250  1B
1983 Mets           18    4    2  .598   5.59   49    9  .130  .252  .455   3   1   0   2   4    87   132  1B
1984 Mets            8   -1   -2  .428   3.79   26    5  .097  .153  .367   3   0   0   3   1    57    79  1B
1985 Mets            7    2    1  .622   5.56   18    4  .133  .356  .491   3   0   0   0   1    34    55  RF
     TOTALS       1519  317  169  .600   5.46 4185  838  .151  .282  .469 193  79  56 119 297  7509 11229 
     LG AVERAGE   1211    0    0  .500   4.36 3671  681  .124  .227  .425 108  58  94  77 216  7509 10649 
     POS AVERAGE  1361  148    0  .546   4.90 4034  797  .150  .260  .456 131  60  55  84 231  7509 10836 

Rusty Staub League Leadership Rankings

1963 NL WALKS T10TH 59; WORST OPS 6TH .617

1965 NL GIDP T5TH 17

1966 NL DOUBLES T10TH 28; INTENTIONAL WALKS T5TH 13; SACRIFICE FLIES T2ND 8

1967 NL HITS 8TH 182; SINGLES T9TH 127; DOUBLES 1ST 44; AVERAGE 5TH .333; OBA 4TH .398; OPS 8TH .871; RUNS CREATED 10TH 99; RCAA 7TH 41; RCAP 10TH 30; OWP 6TH .722; RUNS CREATED/GAME 9TH 6.77; INTENTIONAL WALKS 4TH 21; GIDP T10TH 15; SACRIFICE FLIES T7TH 6

1968 NL GAMES 3RD 161; SINGLES 10TH 128; DOUBLES T4TH 37; WALKS 5TH 73; AVERAGE 9TH .291; OBA 4TH .373; RUNS CREATED T10TH 87; INTENTIONAL WALKS 2ND 24; HIT BY PITCHES T3RD 7; PLATE APPEARANCES T10TH 682

1969 NL GAMES T8TH 158; HOMERUNS T8TH 29; HR/100 OUTS 8TH 7.16; HR/100 AB 8TH 5.28; WALKS T3RD 110; AVERAGE 10TH .302; SLG 7TH .526; OBA 4TH .426; OPS 4TH .952; RUNS CREATED 4TH 126; RCAA T4TH 58; RCAP T6TH 40; OWP 7TH .749; RUNS CREATED/GAME 4TH 8.40; TOTAL BASES 10TH 289; EXTRA BASE HITS T8TH 60; ISOLATED POWER 9TH .224; SECONDARY AVERAGE 5TH .423; TOTAL AVERAGE 4TH 1.018; BPA 5TH .589; HIT BY PITCHES T6TH 9

1970 NL GAMES 4TH 160; WALKS 2ND 112; CAUGHT STEALING T9TH 11; OBA 8TH .394; RUNS CREATED 10TH 116; SECONDARY AVERAGE 8TH .422; SACRIFICES T4TH 11; PLATE APPEARANCES 9TH 699

1971 NL GAMES 1ST 162; RUNS 7TH 94; HITS 7TH 186; DOUBLES T3RD 34; RBI 7TH 97; AVERAGE 10TH .311; OBA 7TH .392; OPS 6TH .874; RUNS CREATED 7TH 111; RCAA T6TH 40; RCAP T7TH 34; OWP 6TH .690; RUNS CREATED/GAME 7TH 6.70; TOTAL BASES 7TH 289; EXTRA BASE HITS T8TH 59; TOTAL AVERAGE 8TH .856; INTENTIONAL WALKS T9TH 13; HIT BY PITCHES 2ND 9; GIDP T3RD 21; PLATE APPEARANCES 7TH 690

1973 NL DOUBLES T3RD 36

1974 NL INTENTIONAL WALKS T10TH 12; GIDP 4TH 21

1975 NL RUNS T7TH 93; RBI 4TH 105; INTENTIONAL WALKS T6TH 14; HIT BY PITCHES 5TH 9; GIDP T7TH 18; SACRIFICE FLIES T4TH 9

1976 AL GAMES T1ST 161; HITS 7TH 176; RBI T4TH 96; WALKS T4TH 83; OBA 4TH .386; OPS 8TH .818; RUNS CREATED T4TH 98; RCAA 6TH 29; RCAP 9TH 25; OWP 10TH .652; RUNS CREATED/GAME 9TH 5.91; TOTAL BASES T10TH 255; TOTAL AVERAGE 8TH .794; INTENTIONAL WALKS T5TH 11; HIT BY PITCHES T7TH 7; GIDP 1ST 23; SACRIFICE FLIES T2ND 11; PLATE APPEARANCES T3RD 690

1977 AL AT BATS 6TH 623; DOUBLES T8TH 34; GIDP 1ST 27; SACRIFICE FLIES T3RD 10; PLATE APPEARANCES 5TH 695; OUTS 2ND 490

1978 AL GAMES T2ND 162; AT BATS 3RD 642; HITS 5TH 175; RBI 2ND 121; WALKS T10TH 76; TOTAL BASES T3RD 279; GIDP T2ND 24; SACRIFICE FLIES T2ND 11; PLATE APPEARANCES 3RD 734; OUTS 2ND 505