Remembering Mets History (1982) Rusty Staub Hits a Pinch Hit Walk Off HR

Sunday May 9th, 1982: This Sunday was a Mother's Day matinee at Shea, as a small crowd of 15,008 came to see George Bamberger's second place Mets (14-15) take on Frank Robinson's fourth place San Francisco Giants (13-16).

These were still rough times for Mets fans, as the team was about to have its fifth straight losing season. They were still two years away from competing with a winning record. 

A week earlier the Mets had traded away the popular Lee Mazzilli in exchange for, yet a still unknown young pitcher named Ron Darling.

Today, the Mets sent Brooklyn born pitcher, Pete Falcone to the mound against the Giants Alan Fowlkes.

In the top of the 1st, Pete Falcone struck out Chili Davis & Johnnie LeMaster to start the game. Tom O'Malley doubled but Jack Cark flew out to left to end the inning.

In the bottom of the 1st, Alan Fowlkes struck out Mookie Wilson & Wally Backman to start the inning as well. Gary Rajsich flew out for a 1-2-3 inning.

In the home 3rd inning, Hubbie Brooks doubled to left field.  Ron Gardenhire followed with an RBI single, scoring Brooks with the Mets first run. 

In the bottom of the 4th inning, George Foster singled, then veteran catcher Ron Hodges hit a two run HR making it 3-0. The HR was Hodges first HR since April 1981.

Trivia: Ron Hodges had been a backup Mets catcher for the past decade, arriving in September 1973. He first played behind Jerry Grote & then John Stearns. 1983 would be the only season Hodges was the team's main back stop.

In the top of the 5th inning, Jim Wohlford singled but was erased by a double play. Next, Duane Kuiper (a future Giants broadcaster) & Alan Fowlkes both singled. Next, the Giants tagged Falcone with back-to-back HRs, a three shot by Chili Davis, followed by a Johnny LeMaster solo shot to give the Giants a 4-3 lead.

In the home 6th inning, the Mets Gary Rajsich singled to right field to start the inning. Then slugger Dave Kingman, hit a two-run HR to put New York up 5-4. 

For Kingman, who had been traded back to the Mets from the Cubs in exchange for Steve Henderson the previous year, it was his 11th HR of the season in just 29 games played. It was also, his third HR of that week.

In the 7th inning, Mets pitcher Pat Zachary, was brought in making his first relief appearance in three years. After a quiet 7th inning, Zachary gave up an 8th inning HR to Tom O'Malley tying the game at five.

In relief of Zachry, manager George Bamberger brought in veteran Craig Swan. Swan, just four years earlier was the team's best pitchers & won an ERA title. His once promising career had been ruined by injuries. Swan kept the Giants down, holding the tie thru the 9th inning. 

In the bottom of the 9th, Greg Minton came on to pitch for the Giants. Minton, one of the league's top closers had gone 269 innings without surrendering a HR. In 1982 he would save 30 games making the All-Star team. He also led the NL in appearances for the second straight year.

Hubie Brooks grounded out, then Ron Gardenhire flew out to right field. Mets manager George Bamberger sent up, the veteran fan favorite, Rusty Staub to pinch hit. 

Staub was currently in a 0-16 slump, batting just .095. Rusty broke out of his slump, as he connected with a HR to right field, winning the game for the Mets, giving the Mother's Day crowd something to get cheer about.

Quotes: Rusty Staub- "You go up there and you know he doesn't give HRs up. If he makes a mistake, you got a chance to drive the ball into the gap, hoping for a double'.

Staub was in the twi-light of his career. He would soon become one of the league's best pinch hitters as he eased into that role. The following year he would tie MLB records with eight straight pinch hits & 25 pinch hit RBIs.