Rusty connection began long before Mets

Rusty Staub used to sigh when he saw me coming. Or was it a shudder? Never a fast runner, he was stuck, either way.

Background: You may not believe this, but I wasn’t a normal kid. My favorite baseball team became the Houston Colt .45s. That was in 1962, when the Colt .45s began and my uncle, who lived in Houston and had some commercial connection to the team, began to send me Colt .45 pennants and programs.

In 1963, a 19-year-old rookie, Staub, joined the Colt .45s. And whenever I ran into Staub, we both knew what I wanted. He patiently prepared to answer questions about that 1963 club.

My favorite is Staub’s recollection of manager

Harry Craft — in 1949, he was Mickey Mantle’s first professional manager — assigning Staub to room with pitcher Don McMa

hon because, at 33, McMahon was among the team’s oldest, wisest players.

Staub, who played 150 games that year, said he spent half the season in hotels tiptoeing around, trying not to disturb McMahon’s sleep.

“I was 19. He was nearly twice my age. It was like rooming with my uncle.”

Took just one day for the latter-day absurdity to return.

Red Sox-Rays opener Thursday. Boston led, 4-0, after six, which is when starter Chris Sale was removed. In came reliever

Matt Barnes, who pitched a 1, 2, 3 inning.

Still, new Red Sox manager Alex Cora brought in Joe Kelly in the eighth. In one-third of an inning he allowed a hit, three walks and was charged with four earned runs.

Next! Carson Smith, in two-thirds of an inning, allowed two hits, a walk and two earned runs.

Thus, on Day 1 of the 2018 season, a 4-0 lead into the eighth inning was managed — by The Book — into a 6-4 loss.

The defiant “You don’t know me!” content of NCAA student-athlete image ads, seen throughout the NCAA Tournament, seem rather defensive.

We may not personally know the athletes, but by now we well know the system, and that system, if not corrupt, is regularly corrupted.

As for not knowing the NCAA’s student-athletes, if I asked to view a star player’s academic schedule and course of study, I’d essentially be denied with the polite form of, “It’s none of your blankin’ business!”

So this defiant NCAA “You don’t know me!” pitch is another bogus sell, abbreviated as BS.