On April 5, 1972, the New York Mets acquire outfielder Rusty Staub from the Montreal Expos for a package of three players: Ken Singleton, Tim Foli, and Mike Jorgensen. Staub will help the Mets to the National League pennant in 1973.
Expos second baseman Ron Hunt is plunked by a pitch for the 50th time of the season, establishing a big league record. By comparison, the runner-up in the league, teammate Rusty Staub, will be hit by a pitch only nine times.
At Connie Mack Stadium, Bill Stoneman of the Montreal Expos pitches a 7 – 0 no-hitter against the Philadelphia Phillies in only the ninth game of the Expos’ existence. Rusty Staubhits a home run with three doubles and three RBI to pace Stoneman’s gem.
1969 – After Donn Clendenon “retires” and refuses to report to spring training, Commissioner Bowie Kuhn rules that Montreal can keep both Rusty Staub and Clendenon, insisting that Houston will have to settle for further compensation rather than voiding the trade.
On January 22, 1969, the Houston Astros trade Rusty Staub to the Montreal Expos for Donn Clendenon and Jesus Alou. But Clendenon refuses to report to Houston, because of a personality conflict with the team’s newly-hired skipper, Harry Walker, who had managed him in Pittsburgh. He eventually announces his retirement. The Astros petition Commissioner Bowie Kuhn…
On June 10, 1968, Bob Aspromonte and Rusty Staub of the Houston Astros are fined when they refuse to play in the aftermath of the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy. Maury Wills of the Pittsburgh Pirates also refuses to play, resulting in reported disciplinary action. In the meantime, AL games in Baltimore and Chicago…
Unlike its decision in April to delay the start of the season after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, Major League Baseball lets individual teams decide if they will postpone games when Robert F. Kennedy is killed two months later by an assassin’s bullet. When Houston decides to continue playing their scheduled home contests, Rusty Staub and Bob Aspromonte, both who will be traded at the end of the season, protest by benching themselves in today’s 3-1 loss to Pittsburgh at the Astrodome.
1968 – Judge Roy Hofheinz gives San Francisco’s Willie Mays a 569-lb. cake for his 37th birthday. Rusty Staub serves the dessert with six RBIs in a 10-2 Houston win.
1967 – Houston erupts for eight runs in the eighth to wallop the Phillies, 10-3. Rusty Staub has four RBIs. Bob Aspromonte slams a three-run shot and Jim Wynn has two hits in the decisive frame. Winning pitcher Mike Cuellar drills a run-scoring double to help his own cause.
1966 – A dropped third strike keys a 5-4 win over the Braves. Phil Niekro has Rusty Staub out on strikes but he is safe at first after Gene Oliver lets the pitch roll away in the ninth inning. John Bateman eventually singles Staub home with the game-winner. Lee Maye and Jim Gentile also homer for Houston.
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