‘VERY DEAR
Rusty’s remembered as great teammate
Keith Hernandez was already a prolific hitter when he joined the Mets in a 1983 trade with St. Louis, having copped National League MVP honors in 1979.
Still, the slugging first baseman wasn’t shy about asking Mets teammate Rusty Staub — who played his final five seasons with the Mets — for some covert information Staub might have on opposing pitchers.
“Rusty had his little red book with all the pitchers and how they gave away their pitches,” Hernandez said Thursday prior to the Mets’ 2018 home opener. “It went back to (pitchers) Bob Friend and Joey Jay, into the ’60s through the ’70s and the present. I said, ‘Let me have a look.’ He goes, ‘No. You didn’t earn it.’”
Hernandez smiled recalling the snub, and then reveled in the memory of the gift Staub gave him when Staub retired after the 1985 season.
“(Staub’s) going-away present for me, the day he said goodbye, he gave me the book. I still have it at home,” said Hernandez. “It was quite extraordinary.”
Hernandez broke down several times talking to reporters about Staub, who died early Thursday at age 73. Hernandez and Staub, both lefty hitters, developed a lifelong friendship after they became Mets teammates.
“Obviously, this is a sad day for Metland here. Rusty is a very dear friend. He has his place in Met lore and also the city,” said Hernandez, who in the next breath, spoke barely above a whisper. “It’s a tough day.”
Staub was the veteran player on those early ’80s Mets teams, and his influence on Hernandez and a young pitcher named Ron Darling still resonates over three decades later.
“Well, he was the one that got me to live in the city,” said Hernandez. “When I came (to the Mets) and started the season in ’84, I was single. (Staub) said, ‘Well, you’ve got to live in the city.’ He’s the one that introduced me to the city, all it had to offer.”
Darling, whose first full season with the Mets was also 1984, said he wanted to enjoy all the riches of living in Gotham, but that the Mets told him not to. Staub didn’t take kindly to the team micromanaging the young righthander.
“This is probably ancient to you people to even think of this concept, but the Mets said, ‘No,’ I certainly could not live in the city,” said Darling. “They were telling me where I could live. Rusty marched into (general manager) Frank’s (Cashen) office and said not only could (Darling) live wherever he wanted to live, but that (Staub) would watch me and take care of me and make sure that I was ready every fifth day. He didn’t need to do that, barely knew me.”
Hernandez and Darling, now both Mets SNY broadcast announcers, reminisced about Staub stories both old and more recent. There was the big bat that Staub would wield while sitting in the Mets’ dugout during his final seasons. Darling said you did not want to be seated near Staub when he was holding the lumber.
“He used to love to bang your shins with it. Rusty always used to sit at the end of the bench with a bat. You’d be sitting there, and he’d bang your shins with it,” said Darling. “He’d say, ‘Yesterday’s game was pretty good for you but that slow curveball you throw to right-handed hitters, you’ve got to get rid of that, son. That just does not work in this game.’ I remembered it not only because it was something I never threw again, but because it hurt ’cause he hit me in the shin.”
Before he got to the majors, Darling said he was already a big fan of Staub’s from watching him play for the Expos. Darling said he and his dad would take summer trips across the border to take in “Le Grand Orange” — Staub’s nickname during his Expos playing days — in games at Montreal’s old Parc Jarry.
“In those days Rusty was one of the bigger players you would ever see,” said Darling.