I wanted to take a few minutes today to remember one of the most beloved Mets players of all time, Rusty Staub.
“Le Grande Orange” as he was often called hailing back to his days with the Montreal Expos, would have been 77 years old today. Sadly, we lost Rusty three years ago when he succumbed to organ failure on March 29, 2018 after losing his battle with pneumonia.
A six-time All-Star and the only player in major league history to have at least 500 hits with four teams, Rusty’s on-field accomplishments are well documented in baseball lore, but paled in comparison to his many philanthropic endeavors that touched millions of people and children, especially here in New York City.
I was fortunate enough to play a small part in one of Rusty’s charities when he reached out to me personally and asked if I could help him raise funds and awareness for his New York Police and Fire Widows’ and Children’s Benefit Fund.
Of course I was only too happy and thrilled to help out. I was a nervous wreck that day, but Rusty sensed my anxiety and tried his best to help me get through that day. “You’re doing God’s work,” he’d say. “Doesn’t it feel so good?”
Little did he know but he was actually making me feel exponentially worse. I can laugh about it now… What a remarkable man he was, I had never met anyone so giving of himself and so willing to help others. Long story short, the fundraiser was an enormous success — like anything else Rusty sets his mind on.
I could spend hours chronicling all of Rusty Staub’s amazing achievements with the New York Mets…
How he was the first Mets player to drive in 100 runs in a season… How he led the Ya Gotta Believe team to the postseason in ’73… How he almost single-handedly defeated the Cincinnati Reds in the championship series…. How he almost helped us win a third World Series when he batted .423 against the Oakland A’s with a busted shoulder…
And that was just in his first stint with the Mets.
Rusty re-signed with the Mets in 1981 and was named player-coach the following season.
However it was his exploits in the clutch that would cement his status as a Mets icon. Rusty became one of the best pinch hitters in the history of the game, tying an NL record with eight consecutive pinch-hits and setting a MLB record with 25 pinch-hit RBIs in one season. Both records still stand today.
So yes, there’s all that, but I bet only a scant few of you have ever heard the following story…
When Rusty was part of the Mets broadcasting team, he discussed the trade that first brought him to Queens in 1972.
On April 2, the Expos and Mets were both holding camp at Spring Training. The day before it was Holy Saturday and Staub had gone to church before reporting to camp and he ended up noticing that Gil Hodges and his coaching staff were also attending the service.
The next morning it was a beautiful Easter Sunday morning and Rusty made his way to church again only this time Gil Hodges and his coaches who were also there again, came up to him and greeted him and shook his hands and they all treated him so nicely. “It was very surprising and I thought what a bunch of nice guys”, he said.
After church and on his way back to camp, he was still puzzled at how nice Gil and the other Mets were toward him and all the pleasant things Gil had to say to about him as a player. Little did Rusty know, but he had just been traded to the Mets only he hadn’t been told yet because they were waiting for medical clearances to go through.
Ironically and sadly, his warm exchange with Gil Hodges would be his last and only conversation with Gil who was stricken by a heart attack during a round of golf later that afternoon and died. As Rusty conveyed it, “I couldn’t believe Gil Hodges died that night”.
On the day of Gil’s funeral the trade became official. The Mets had acquired Le Grande Orange for Tim Foli, Mike Jorgensen and Ken Singleton.
When Rusty entered the Mets clubhouse for the very first time and donned his new Mets uniform, on his sleeve was a black band to honor the passing of Gil Hodges.
Almost forty years later, the New York Mets honored Rusty Staub in similar fashion with a patch on the right sleeve of the team’s uniform during the 2018 season. The round patch featured the autograph of Rusty Staub in orange on a black field.
Rusty was inducted into the Mets Hall of Fame in 1986, a year after he retired from the game. The beloved Met will forever be missed by his adoring fans and all the people whose lives he touched with his philanthropic spirit.
