There has never been a baseball player quite like Rusty Staub. The redhead was a renaissance man from New Orleans, a professional chef, and fluent in at least two languages. He may be the most popular man to ever wear the red-white-and-blue of the Montreal Expos. In Quebec, he was known as “Le Grand Orange.”
For parts of four seasons, Staub was a staple in the middle of the Detroit lineup. Toiling for a young team in transition, Rusty averaged 20 home runs and 106 RBI from 1976-1978. As an All-Star outfielder and later designated hitter, Staub proved his value as a professional hitter. With a picture perfect swing and a great eye, Rusty smoked line drives into the gaps, especially off his favorite moneymaker: fastballs.
This video is from WDIV in Detroit, from June of 1976. Staub was in the midst of his first season in the Motor City, on his way to making the All-Star team. Rusty takes batting practice in the video, and then conducts an interview to explain his joy at being a Tiger.