RetroSimba

(Updated Nov. 25, 2019)

Rusty Staub, who did his best hitting versus right-handed pitchers, and Bob Gibson were matched against one another often. Though Staub didn’t hit Gibson as well as he did most right-handers, he had a couple of significant games while facing the Cardinals’ ace.

Staub had more plate appearances (162) and more at-bats (143) versus Gibson than he did against any other pitcher in his major-league career.

A left-handed batter, Staub played 23 seasons in the big leagues, starting in 1963, when he was 19, with the Houston Colt .45s before they were renamed the Astros. An outfielder and first baseman, Staub also played for the Expos, Mets, Tigers and Rangers.

Staub had career totals of 2,716 hits and 1,466 RBI, with a .279 batting average. Against right-handed pitching, he hit .291. Gibson was among the few right-handers who fared well against Staub, limiting him to a .224 batting average, but Staub was a respected adversary, compiling 32 hits, 16 walks and 15 RBI against him.

Cardinals nemesis

In 256 games against the Cardinals, Staub batted .273, with 226 hits, 109 walks and 102 RBI. He hit .300 or better versus the Cardinals every year from 1966 to 1973. Some of his performances against St. Louis were dominant: .484 batting average and 13 RBI in 1966; .328 and 15 RBI in 1967; and .343 and 15 RBI in 1975.

In a November 2019 interview with broadcaster Dan McLaughlin, longtime Cardinals catcher Ted Simmons said, “If Rusty decided he wasn’t going to strike out, you couldn’t strike him out. I mean, it wasn’t a matter of him trying to foul the ball off. He would put an at-bat on you. Every swing was critical.”

Staub was tough on Cardinals right-handers such as Nelson Briles (.384 batting average against) and Ray Washburn (.327), and one of the left-handers he solved was Steve Carlton (.308). Staub had more RBI (25) versus Carlton than he did against any other pitcher. All four of his career home runs off Carlton came while the pitcher was with the Cardinals.

Staub was 20 when he hit his first home run against a Cardinals pitcher, left-hander Curt Simmons, 35, in 1964.

Another longtime Cardinals left-hander, Ray Sadecki, struck out Staub more times (21) than any other major-league pitcher.

Perfect at plate

On May 1, 1968, Gibson pitched 12 innings, yielding seven hits and no earned runs, in a 3-1 Cardinals victory over the Astros at Houston. Staub gave him the most trouble, with four hits and a sacrifice bunt in five plate appearances.

“You can’t trick Staub,” Gibson said to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Said Cardinals center fielder Curt Flood: “Staub has a good, short stride and he seems to know what kind of pitch is coming.”

Staub, batting in the cleanup spot, produced three singles and a double.

Explaining how Gibson relied on fastballs and sliders, Cardinals catcher Johnny Edwards said, “I think Gibby threw two curves all night and the only changeup was the one Rusty Staub hit up the middle (in the fourth) for a single.”

In the Astros’ half of the 11th, with the score tied at 1-1, Jim Wynn drew a leadoff walk. Staub was up next, and even though he was perfect at the plate against Gibson, Astros manager Grady Hatton instructed him to bunt. Staub executed, moving Wynn into scoring position at second base.

After Doug Rader struck out, Cardinals manager Red Schoendienst ordered Gibson to walk John Bateman to get to Denis Menke, a career .184 batter versus Gibson. Menke grounded into a forceout. Boxscore

Sweet swing

Seven years later, on April 23, 1975, Gibson was matched against Mets ace Tom Seaver in a game at New York. Staub was with the Mets then.

In the fifth, with the Cardinals ahead, 1-0, Jack Heidemann singled against Gibson and moved to second on Jerry Grote’s single. With Seaver at the plate, Gibson made a pickoff throw to second baseman Ted Sizemore. Sizemore applied a tag, but umpire Tom Gorman ruled Heidemann safe.

“He never got to the bag,” Sizemore complained.

After Seaver grounded out, Wayne Garrett walked, loading the bases, and Felix Millan hit a two-run double. After an intentional walk to Del Unser, reloading the bases, Staub came up, swung at Gibson’s first pitch, a fastball, and walloped it for a grand slam. The Mets won, 7-1.

“I’ve always said the key to hitting is to have men on base,” Staub said to The White Plains Journal News. “It doesn’t matter who bats behind you in the batting order. It matters only if men are on base in front of you and you can get a pitch to hit.”

Said Gibson: “I was having control problems and when you have control problems you don’t throw the same.” Boxscore

The grand slam was the sixth of nine Staub hit in the big leagues. Two other future Hall of Fame pitchers, Rollie Fingers and Dennis Eckersley, also yielded grand slams to Staub.