Remembering Mets History (1983) Rusty Staub Ties MLB Consecutive Pinch Hit Record

In 1983 Rusty Staub set three MLB pinch hit records. In June he tied an MLB record with eight straight pinch hits.

On a June Mets home stand, Staub began with five successful pinch-hit appearances. 

Saturday, June 11th: In the bottom of the 7th inning, with the Mets down 5-0 to the Expos, Rusty Staub came to bat with the bases loaded & no one out, facing Jeff Reardon, one of the NL's top relievers. 

Staub doubled of the center field wall, driving in Mark Bradley & Jose Oquendo. The Mets lost the game, as Staub began his streak.

Sunday June 12th:  In the 6th inning, with the Tom Seaver & the Mets leading the Expos 3-1, Staub came to bat as a pinch hitter with two on & two out facing Montreal's Charlie Lea. 

Rusty smashed a double to left field, driving in rookie Darryl Strawberry & veteran George Foster in the 9-1 win.

June 13- June 15th: The Chicago Cubs came to town next & took two of the three games. In the bottom of the 8th, Staub continued his pinch-hit streak with a base hit off Mike Proly.

Walk Off Win: The next night in front of a small Shea Stadium crowd of 9,650 fans, the Mets Ed Lynch & the Cubs Dick Ruthven pitched into the 8th inning, with the Mets leading 3-2. The Cubs tied it up, sending the game to extra innings.

In the bottom of the 10th, the Mets Bob Bailor singled & with two outs Daryl Strawberry was intentionally walked. Staub came up as a pinch hitter against that year's NL Saves leader, Lee Smith. 

Staub hit an opposite field base hit scoring Bailor with the walk off game winning run. It was Rusty's fourth straight successful pinch hit.

Three Hit Game: In the next game Staub started playing at first base & batting fifth. The hot hitting Staub went 3-4 in the Mets ten inning 7-4 loss.

Saturday, June 18th, 1983: The Mets went north up to Montreal, the city where Rusty Staub was a baseball legend. In the Expos 1969 expansion season, Staub was one of the team's first star players. It was in Montreal he earned the nickname "Le Grande Orange".

In the top of the 7th inning, with the Mets down 1-0, Staub came up as a pinch hitter, collecting a single Bill Gullickson. The pinch hit was Staub's fifth pinch hit in a row. The Mets put up five runs in the inning in the 6-1 win.

Sunday, June 19th: The next afternoon the Mets lost a close 4-3 game to the Expo's legend Steve Rogers. In the top of the 9th, Staub, collected his sixth straight pinch hit with a HR off Rogers, for his first HR of the season. 

Monday, June 20th 1983: The Mets came back home to Shea Stadium, for a double header with the reigning world champion St. Louis Cardinals. 

In the first game the Mets took a 3-1 loss, where Staub got another start. He played right field, batted fifth, going 1 for 4 with a base hit.

In the night cap, Staub came to bat in the 7th inning, as a pinch-hitter with the Mets leading 5-4.  Staub singled off Cardinal pitcher Dave Von Ohlen bringing home Darryl Strawberry with his seventh straight pinch hit. in the 6-4 victory. 

In the next two games, Staub played out field going hitless.

Friday June 24th: The Phillies came to Shea Stadium for a three-game series & took the first game 6-3.  In the 9th inning, Rusty came up as a pinch hitter & was hit by a pitch from Hall of Famer; Steve Carlton, safely reaching base without a credited at bat. 

Sunday June 26th: In this Sunday afternoon double header Frank Howard's last place Mets (27-43) hosted Pat Corrales third place Philadelphia Phillies (32-33). 

In the first game, a couple of former popular Mets pitchers figured in the outcome. Tom Seaver, who had returned to the Mets after parts of six seasons in Cincinnati took the loss to his old pal, Tug McGraw, now with the Phillies. 

In the night cap, Staub would go into the record books as a pinch hitter. In the bottom of the 9th inning, Rusty came to bat as a pinch hitter, batting for Junior Ortiz with the Mets down 8-4. 

He singled into right field off pitcher Ron Reed, tying an MLB record (along with Dave Philley) of eighth straight successful pinch hits. He received a nice ovation from the Shea Faithful, as he accomplished his feat. In a real moment of class & respect, pitcher Ron Reed came over from the mound to first base to hand Staub the ball he hit for the historic pinch hit.

On June 29th in St. Louis, Rusty Staub's streak ended as he grounded out to second base off Bruce Sutter in the 4-3 loss.

Pinch Hit Records: On the season, the 39-year-old Staub was the league's best pinch hitter, setting a record for 11 pinch-hit walks & 81 pinch hit at bats. In his career Staub collected 100 career pinch hits & batted .280 in that role, becoming one of the best pinch hitters of his era.

In 1983, he would bat .296 with three HRs six doubles & 28 RBIs in 115 at bats, in 104 games. 

The Legend of Rusty Staub: Rusty was one of the most popular Mets players in team history. In 1972 he arrived from Montreal in a trade for Ken Singleton, Tim Foli & Mike Jorgenson. In 1973 he led the Mets offense to the NL Pennant & was the leading hitter in the World Series loss to Oakland. In 1975 Staub was the first Met to drive in 100 runs. After the season he was traded to Detroit in one of the worst trades of the era. In 1982 at age 38, he returned for a second go around with the Mets where he would end his career (1982-1985). 

Staub played a total of nine years as a Mets player, appearing in 942 games (13th most in Mets history). He hit .276 with 709 hits 75 HRs 130 doubles 399 RBIs a .358 on base % & .778 OPS. 

Rusty was a famous chef & food connoisseur who owned two restaurants in New York City. Rusty's on 73rd St & Third Ave & Rusty's on Fifth at Fifth Avenue.

He started the Rusty Staub Foundation, as well as the NYPD & FDNY Widow's Benefit Fund. After his playing days, Rusty became a Mets broadcaster from 1986 to 1995. He later became a Mets team ambassador.