Many have mentioned how much of a gentleman Mr. Staub was and I am certainly not going to go against that way of thinking.
I have mentioned before that I had the incredible opportunity to work for the Chicago Cubs for seven years with the first four of those years being in the security division starting in 1982. My responsibility was to be the supervisor of security for the concourse, field and clubhouse areas which meant I had to ensure the both home and visitor players were safe from the time they entered the ball park to the time they left. The first time I met Rusty Staub I was shocked when he stuck out his hand, introduced himself as he came off of the team bus and asked my name. Of course I knew who he was as I had collected his baseball cards and watched him on the game of the week many times but it was shocking to have someone like him be so forward and act like the lowly security guy was on the same level as he was.
From that point on, whenever he would see me he would call me by name and ask how I was doing. On the last day of the teams last visit to Wrigley Field for the season he would be sure to shake my hand, wish me a great off season and let me know he would see me next year. For someone who was used to ball players "big leaguing" me, Mr. Staub was an incredible change of pace and quite honestly, someone I looked forward to seeing when the Mets came to town....which if you knew the Mets from that era you knew that was saying something.
I had always wanted to write him and thank him for his incredible kindness but always knew I would have time to do so. Hearing a few weeks ago that he was ill made me incredibly sad and hearing of his death brought me nearly to tears. One of the good ones has left us and baseball will now be a much sadder place without Rusty Staub to make it special.
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