Daniel Joseph "Rusty" Staub (April 1, 1944 – March 29, 2018) was an American professional baseball player and television color commentator.

Although he played just 518 of his 2,951 games as an Expo, his enduring popularity led them to retire his number in 1993, while the Mets inducted him into their team Hall of Fame in 1986.

One of his most vivid and affecting memories in life was sitting on his bed with his mother and brother reciting the rosary for his uncle.

[3] Staub attended Jesuit High School in New Orleans, where he played first base on the baseball team.

He became only the second major league rookie since 1900 to play 150 games as a teenager; the first had been Bob Kennedy, also 19, with the Chicago White Sox in 1940.

[12] Staub did not get along with Harry Walker, hired by the Astros on June 17, 1968, to move from hitting coach to manager.

"Spec" Richardson (who felt he was not getting the most out of his contract) decided to trade Staub to the Montreal Expos before the start of their inaugural season in 1969 as part of a deal for Donn Clendenon and Jesús Alou.

[5] The trade became a source of controversy as Clendenon (who thought Walker was a racist from his playing days with him in Pittsburgh) refused to report to the Astros and attempted to retire; the deal had to be resolved by Commissioner of Baseball Bowie Kuhn who ruled that the deal was official, but that Clendenon was to stay with the Expos.

[19] In his three full seasons with the team, Staub played in 480 total games, garnering 508 hits and achieving an on-base percentage of .402, the latter of which is a franchise record.

[20] After three seasons in Montreal, the New York Mets made a blockbuster trade for Staub in 1972 in exchange for first baseman-outfielder Mike Jorgensen, shortstop Tim Foli, and outfielder Ken Singleton.

[5] He was batting .313 for the Mets until June 3 of that year, when he was hit by a pitch from future teammate George Stone of the Atlanta Braves,[21] fracturing his right wrist.

[26] This incident was the impetus for Major League teams applying padding on the outfield walls at all ball parks.

In the World Series the shoulder injury forced Staub out of Game 1, but he was used as a decoy, waiting on deck to pinch hit.

He returned to the lineup for Game 2, but because of his injury Staub had to throw underhanded and weakly for the remainder of the World Series.

[27] He was traded with Bill Laxton to the Detroit Tigers for Mickey Lolich and Billy Baldwin on December 12, 1975.

He was selected to the Sporting News American League All-Star team at the end of the season as the designated hitter.

[5] In 1980, Staub played 109 games with the Rangers, with 102 hits in 388 plate appearances while having nine home runs and 55 RBIs for a .300 batting average (which was his first since 1971).

[26] In his final five seasons with the Mets, he played in a combined total of 418 games (with 112 in 1982 being his most), making 702 plate appearances while hitting successfully 169 times and getting 13 home runs and 102 RBIs with a .276 batting average.

[32] Fittingly, his final game on October 6, 1985, was against the Expos, pinch hitting for Ronn Reynolds in the bottom of the ninth inning.

[39] On May 26, 2012, the New York Mets featured a Rusty Staub promotional giveaway bobblehead as part of their 50th anniversary celebration.

[43] During its first 15 years of existence, the fund raised and distributed $11 million for families of policemen and firefighters killed in the line of duty.

[44] Since September 11, 2001, Staub's organization has received contributions in excess of $112 million,[44] and it has played a vital role in helping many families affected by the attack.

Staub lost his close friend, Frank Brennan, a bond trader with Cantor-Fitzgerald, in the attack.

[48] On October 1, 2015, Staub was on a flight from Ireland to the United States when he had a heart attack and went into cardiac arrest.

The flight turned around and landed in Shannon Airport, where paramedics continued to administer emergency treatment to Staub, and transported him to University Hospital Limerick.

[49] Staub died on March 29, 2018, three days before his 74th birthday, at the Good Samaritan Medical Center in West Palm Beach, Florida, from multiple organ failure.