Rusty Staub in the bottom of the ninth

[Ron Brand]

Game appears to be drawing to a close.

[juliogotay]

Game appears to be drawing to a close.

Hate to learn of that. I watched him in Colt .45 uni as well as Astros. I remember being in NY in the '90s, near Grand Central, and there was Rusty's restaurant. IIRC they specialized in ribs.

[Texifornia]

Rusty Staub was the first Colt / Astro star and he was my very favorite player. I used to practice the "Rusty Staub Sliding Catch" in my socks on the tile floor in my home's entry way.

I was inconsolable when he was traded.

I hope he can recover.

[Col. Sphinx Drummond]

Well, crap. Loved Rusty. Even had a garage band named The Rusty Staubs for a short time. Man I really hated Spec Richardson and Donn Clendenon.

[SoonerJim]

Well, crap. Loved Rusty. Even had a garage band named The Rusty Staubs for a short time. Man I really hated Spec Richardson and Donn Clendenon.

Bowie Kuhn should have vioded the deal, but had Montreal throw in a couple of pitchers, one of them passable. Richardson was just getting started, a process which ended with the cellar team of 1975

[Mr. Happy]

Bowie Kuhn should have vioded the deal, but had Montreal throw in a couple of pitchers, one of them passable. Richardson was just getting started, a process which ended with the cellar team of 1975

Poor Preston Gomez.

[Kit]

Poor Preston Gomez.

Ah Preston Gomez. He pissed me off  royally when he pinch hit for Don Wilson in the bottom of the 8th of a meaningless game vs the Padres? in which he (Wilson) was pitching a no-hitter.  Could have been my first no hitter, I did get to see Ken Forsch's a bit later.

[juliogotay]

Ah Preston Gomez. He pissed me off  royally when he pinch hit for Don Wilson in the bottom of the 8th of a meaningless game vs the Padres? in which he (Wilson) was pitching a no-hitter.  Could have been my first no hitter, I did get to see Ken Forsch's a bit later.

Were you at that game? As I remember the Astros were either behind or it was a scoreless game and Gomez was doing what I think most mgrs. would have done. But imagine if he had gotten a no-hitter that night to go with his two others.

[VirtualBob]

Were you at that game? As I remember the Astros were either behind or it was a scoreless game and Gomez was doing what I think most mgrs. would have done. But imagine if he had gotten a no-hitter that night to go with his two others.

And Don had some pop in the bat, too.

[Mr. Happy]

Ah Preston Gomez. He pissed me off  royally when he pinch hit for Don Wilson in the bottom of the 8th of a meaningless game vs the Padres? in which he (Wilson) was pitching a no-hitter.  Could have been my first no hitter, I did get to see Ken Forsch's a bit later.

Remember when The Lip was sick for a few weeks in his only season with the Astros, and Gomez managed the club. IIRC, they had a great record (like 12-1), so they gave the permanent job to Gomez when The Lip retired. Poor reason for a decision, but that was good ole Spec.

[Kit]

Were you at that game? As I remember the Astros were either behind or it was a scoreless game and Gomez was doing what I think most mgrs. would have done. But imagine if he had gotten a no-hitter that night to go with his two others.

Yeah I was at the game.  As I recall the score was 0-0 and the pinch hitter for Wilson in the bottom of the eighth struck out and I don't think there was any rally of any sort, he might have even been leading off . I think Mike Cosgrove came in and gave up a run in the ninth and that was that. It was late in the year and vs Padres I think.  Yeah I know Gomez's job is to win the game and all but man that was a drag.

[JimR]

The score was 2-1 Reds in the bottom of the 8th. Both runs scored on an error after walks.

[Col. Sphinx Drummond]

RIP.

[Ron Brand]

A cursory stroll through the media coverage is as NY-centric as you'd expect, but it's still nice to look at.

[juliogotay]

I was able to see him in his first season in Houston. Amen Brother.

[Nate Colbert]

The score was 2-1 Reds in the bottom of the 8th. Both runs scored on an error after walks.

Only resurrecting the thread, not Rusty himself.

The error that allowed those runs to score was by the usually reliable Roger Metzger.

Unconnected to the above but the NY Times article about Metzger's later encounter with a table saw.

And what would Carlos May's career have looked like if he hadn't lost his right thumb in a training accident while in the Marine Reserves in Aug. 1969? Even thumb-less, it wasn't shabby.

Was Carlos the only MLB player to ever where his birthday on his uni? "May 19"

Yes, I'm sure you knew Carlos was Lee May's brother.

Touched on in the thread but had Wilson gotten that 3rd no-no he would have joined Ryan, Koufax, Feller, Cy Young and Larry Corcoran as the only members of an exclusive clique with more than 2 no-hitters.

And finally why I sought this thread out in the first place was to post a link to this: Don Wilson's life and death, his career, how Clay Kirby was probably sympathizing with Wilson during the near no-hitter and why the Claude Osteen acquisition stunk for several reasons.

And it's a damn good article and I don't really give a flying fuck if someone might've previously linked to it in the past 8 years.

Why yes, I am having one of those stream of consciousness type mornings. How's yours?

[juliogotay]

Thanks, Nate. For a mediocre team those Astros had some great players. Too bad it never came together for them. The Wilson story remains heart-breaking to me after all of these years. A great talent but an enigma. My fondest story was him seething in the dugout as his teammates were getting no-hit by Jim Maloney. The next day he no-hit them which broke a ten or so game losing streak and set them on a winning season.

[Nate Colbert]

The Wilson story remains heart-breaking to me after all of these years.

Yeah, me too. Maybe I'm just being Astros-centric but I'm still surprised given the quality of his career, the abrupt ending to it and the mystery of his death that no one ever wrote a book on the man. But again kudos to Mike Lynch for this article.

[Mr. Happy]

Only resurrecting the thread, not Rusty himself.

The error that allowed those runs to score was by the usually reliable Roger Metzger.

Unconnected to the above but the NY Times article about Metzger's later encounter with a table saw.

And what would Carlos May's career have looked like if he hadn't lost his right thumb in a training accident while in the Marine Reserves in Aug. 1969? Even thumb-less, it wasn't shabby.

Was Carlos the only MLB player to ever where his birthday on his uni? "May 19"

Yes, I'm sure you knew Carlos was Lee May's brother.

Touched on in the thread but had Wilson gotten that 3rd no-no he would have joined Ryan, Koufax, Feller, Cy Young and Larry Corcoran as the only members of an exclusive clique with more than 2 no-hitters.

And finally why I sought this thread out in the first place was to post a link to this: Don Wilson's life and death, his career, how Clay Kirby was probably sympathizing with Wilson during the near no-hitter and why the Claude Osteen acquisition stunk for several reasons.

And it's a damn good article and I don't really give a flying fuck if someone might've previously linked to it in the past 8 years.

Why yes, I am having one of those stream of consciousness type mornings. How's yours?

Out. Standing.

[jbm]

Throwing a 3-2 fastball by Aaron to complete a no hitter is probably the greatest way to complete one.

[HudsonHawk]

Throwing a 3-2 fastball by Aaron to complete a no hitter is probably the greatest way to complete one.

Someone is reported to have once said "throwing a fastball by Aaron is like sneaking a sunrise past a rooster."

[Astros Fan in Big D]

Someone is reported to have once said "throwing a fastball by Aaron is like sneaking a sunrise past a rooster."

That is a fantastic quote.