Staub wore Number 4 in his first tenure with the Mets.
I decided this photo, from his second tenure with them,
was the best picture I had of him.
Laxton and Baldwin (no relation to the Long Island acting family that includes a Billy Baldwin) are footnotes in baseball history. The Mets needed pitching, and thought that Lolich, a hero of 2 postseason runs for the Tigers, had something left, so they were willing to give up Le Grand Orange in his prime.
As for Staub, maybe he wouldn't have hit as well in Shea's dimensions and wind as he did toward Tiger Stadium's short right field porch. But the Mets missed his bat: He averaged 19 home runs and 106 RBIs over the next 3 seasons. This was one of the trades that made the Tom Seaver trade of 1977 a confirmation of the already-present collapse, not the start of one.
By the time the Mets got Staub back, he was fat and slow, and little more than an occasionally-good pinch hitter. He finished in 1985 with a .279 lifetime batting average, and 2,716 hits including 292 home runs. He is the only player to collect at least 500 hits with 4 different teams: The Houston Astros, then the Montreal Expos, then the Mets, then the Tigers. Along with Ty Cobb, Gary Sheffield and Alex Rodriguez, he is 1 of 4 players in the major leagues to hit a home run before his 20th birthday and hit one after his 40th birthday.
And yet, both Lolich and Staub fall a little short of consideration for the Baseball Hall of Fame.
*
December 12, 1975 was a Friday. Actress and scientist Mayim Bialik was born on this day.
Baseball was out of season. Football was in midweek. There were 6 games played in the NBA:
* The New York Knicks lost to the Buffalo Braves, 123-110 at the Buffalo memorial Auditorium. Bob McAdoo scored 39 points for the Braves, leading all professional scorers on the night.
* The Boston Celtics beat the Washington Bullets, 130-108 at the Boston Garden.
* The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Milwaukee Bucks, 109-91 at the Milwaukee Exposition, Convention Center and Arena, or "The MECCA." Since 2014, it has been named the UW-Panther Arena.
* The Kansas City Kings beat the Chicago Bulls, 109-99 at the Kemper Arena (now the Hy-Vee Arena) in Kansas City.
* The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 114-102 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar had 34 points and 21 rebounds.
* And the Seattle SuperSonics beat the Detroit Pistons, 97-95 at the Seattle Center Coliseum.
There were 3 games in the American Basketball Association:
* The New York Nets beat the Spirits of St. Louis, 106-98 at the Nassau Coliseum.
* The San Antonio Spurs beat the Kentucky Colonels, 107-100 at Freedom Hall in Louisville.
* And the Denver Nuggets beat the Virginia Squires, 110-107 at The Scope in Norfolk.
There were 3 games played in the NHL:
* The New York Islanders and the Atlanta Flames played to a tie, 3-3 at The Omni in Atlanta.
* The Detroit Red Wings beat the Washington Capitals, 5-3 at the Capital Centre in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.
* And the California Golden Seals beat the St. Louis Blues, 5-2 at the Oakland Coliseum Arena.
And there were 5 games in the World Hockey Association:
* The Toronto Toros beat the Quebec Nordiques, 6-4 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.
* The Cleveland Crusaders beat the Minnesota Fighting Saints, 1-0 at The Coliseum in the Cleveland suburb of Richfield, Ohio.
* The Houston Aeros beat the Indianapolis Racers, 4-2 at The Summit in Houston. (The arena has since been converted into the Central Campus of the Lakewood Church, Dr. Joel Osteen's "megachurch.")
* The Winnipeg Jets beat the Calgary Cowboys, 4-2 at the Winnipeg Arena.
* And the Cincinnati Stingers beat the Phoenix Roadrunners, 4-2 at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix.
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