Dick Rusteck

  

Dick Rusteck pitched for the New York Mets in 1966, throwing a four-hit shutout in his debut appearance.

Richard Frank Rusteck was born July 12, 1941, in Chicago, to William and Josephine Rusteck. He lettered in baseball and basketball at St. Philip High School in Chicago, and his senior year, 1959, he made the All-Catholic League team as a pitcher. He was offered baseball scholarships from two colleges but chose to attend Notre Dame, which was not one of the two. He graduated in 1963 with an economics degree, lettering in baseball for three years. He was offered contracts by the Giants, Mets, and Tigers; Detroit offered as much as New York but he figured his chances of advancement were better with the Mets. Upon signing he filled out a questionnaire in which he said he was of Lithuanian descent, was 6-0 170, was single, had no off-season occupation, and his hobbies were golf and listening to music.

A left-handed pitcher who batted right-handed, Dick was sent to Salinas of the Class A California League, where he had control problems, walking 64 in 70 innings and ending up with a 7.20 ERA. After the season he spent a six month hitch in the Army; upon his return in May 1964 it was said that he reported to the Buffalo Bisons, the Mets’ AAA team, but he did not pitch there. He went to the Williamsport Mets of the Class AA Eastern League, but after seven games, in which he had an 11.25 ERA in eight innings, he was sent back down to Class A, this time with the Auburn Mets of the New York-Pennsylvania League. Here he did much better, with an ERA of 4.38 in 37 innings, though he walked 26. After the season the Mets sent him to their team in the Florida Instructional League, where he struck out 22 and walked 21 in 21 innings, allowing only 11 hits, with a 3.43 ERA.

Dick started 1965 with the Greenville Mets of the Class A Western Carolinas League, and in 21 innings in ten games he had a 2.14 ERA with 31 strikeouts; he then got moved back to Auburn, where he struck out 55 in 44 innings, allowing only 22 hits, and his ERA went down to 1.64. This earned him a promotion in August back to Williamsport, site of his 11.25 ERA of the year before—here, being used mostly as a starter for the first time in his pro career, he lowered that mark to 1.98 in 50 innings. Between the three teams he struck out 143 batters in 115 innings, allowing just 78 hits, had an ERA of 1.88, and cut his walk ratio to one per two innings, much better than it had been.

After the season the Mets sent Dick to the Florida Instructional League again; he had a decent 3.55 ERA in 38 innings but impressed manager Eddie Stanky enough that he talked the team into moving Dick to the major league roster to protect him from the minor league draft.

In February 1966 Dick signed a major league contract with the Mets and went to spring training, where manager Wes Westrum was high on him and planned to keep him, but a couple of poor outings led to the team deciding he needed more time in the minors. He was sent to the Jacksonville Suns of the Class AAA International League, where he got off to a great start, overshadowing teammate Tom Seaver; he was almost called up in early May but he got hit in the elbow by a line drive and the Mets decided to hold off. In his first six starts he had six complete game wins and an ERA of 1.13. He lost the seventh start, and then the Mets promoted him on June 9. The next night at Shea Stadium he made his major league debut, as reported by Jack Lang in the following day’s Jersey Journal:

Rusteck Lives Up to Westrum’s Hopes

It is obvious now why Wes Westrum spent the better part of a month pleading with the front office to bring up Dick Rusteck.

From the first time he saw him in the Florida Instructional League last November, Westrum has been impressed with the slender, blond lefthander from Notre Dame.

Last night 33,977 fans at Shea Stadium and a million or so watching on TV saw why.

Rusteck, who arrived in New York only the night before following his recall from Jacksonville, made his first start against the powerful Cincinnati Reds and shut them out with four singles, 5-0.

Not a single Cincy baserunner reached second base as Rusteck pitched a masterpiece in his first league start. The only walk he issued was in the first inning. He went to a 3-2 count on just three other batters and he accomplished his mission with haste, making only 95 pitches in the two hour and six minute ball game.

Was Rusteck nervous pitching before the largest crowd he’d ever seen in a ball park?

“Just the normal nervousness of a pitcher making his first major league start,” the cool kid admitted later.

“I might have been more nervous a few years ago but I’m 24 now. All I did was to try and pitch the way I did at Jacksonville.”

At Jacksonville he was 6-1 and he confessed that he had expected to be recalled earlier.

“When I won my first four or five I knew there was talk about me coming up,” he said. “But then I lost my first game, 4-0, last Saturday night I forgot about it. I didn’t think they’d bring me up after that.”

Rusteck wasn’t aware that he had a booster in Westrum. Even after the kid had been rocked in his last two appearances in spring training, Wes wanted to keep him. But the front office decided otherwise and perhaps it was for the best, because when Dick came up last night, he was ready.

As Westrum said, “The magnificent thing about him is that he throws strikes.”

Rusteck is Westrum’s type of pitcher because he keeps the ball low.

“He has a major league arm plus complete control of his fast ball and his curve,” the manager raved. “He never lets up to get a ball over.”

Leonard Koppett’s game story in the New York Times began this way:

RUSTECK VICTOR ON 4-HITTER, 5-0

Fans 4 in First Big League Start—Bressoud Gets 2 Homers for Met Mark

Glory was the word for the New York Mets last night.

Dick Rusteck, a 23-year-old left-hander they called up from the minors only the day before, pitched a four-hit shutout against the Cincinnati Reds in his first major league appearance. Eddie Bressoud hit two home runs, the important one with two men on base in the second inning. The infield played brilliantly, and a crowd of 33,977 cheered the 5-0 Met victory.

Such nights are rare enough for the Mets under any circumstances, but this one came at a particularly good time. During the week, the pitching staff had gone completely to pieces and the team’s record, as well as its performance, was becoming too painfully identical with former years.

Cleon Jones, the rookie who has been one of the few consistent assets the Mets could rely upon, was unable to play because of a bruised hand. Cincinnati’s starter was Jim Maloney, who had a 6-1 won-lost record and who had shut out the Mets with two hits the last time he pitched here. Roy McMillan, the regular shortstop, finally had to sit down to rest his .164 batting average. And the team had lost 17 of its last 23 games.

These were hardly promising circumstances, but Rusteck and Bressoud, who was McMillan’s replacement, turned everything around. Suddenly, everything looks brighter. Rusteck’s debut, and the arrival of Bob Shaw, may change the pitching picture, and a couple of victories can do wonders for morale…

From Barney Kremenko’s report in the June 25 Sporting News:

…He threw a considerable number of curves, but his big pitch was a fast ball.

“His fast ball moves,” pointed out Ralph Kiner, the former slugger who now is one of the Mets’ broadcasters.

“A couple of times, the ball jumped more than half a foot as it came up to the plate.”

Impressed, too, by the newcomer was plate umpire Ed Sudol.

“His fast ball has a tendency to rise at the last instant,” Sudol said. “It had the batters off balance and was probably the main reason they popped up so much.”

The young man’s poise also caught the eye.

“Nothing bothered him,” emphasized Kiner.

“A couple of times he fell behind on 3-and-0 counts, but came back with strikes.”

Dick was suddenly a New York celebrity, being called “Golden Boy.” Then, four days later, again at home, he had his second start. He gave up a single and a walk to the Cardinals in the first inning, but thanks to two caught stealings he only faced three batters. Then in the second, after three singles, a home run, and a batter reaching first on catcher’s interference, he was removed: one+ inning, five hits, five runs, three of them earned. Westrum concluded that he might need four days rest between starts rather than three, which meant his next one should have been in a doubleheader on June 19. But as Jack Lang reported in the Jersey Journal on the 20^th:

Dick Rusteck was supposed to start yesterday and couldn’t, and he still can’t pitch.

After the 5-0, 4-2 double defeat in Cincinnati, Wes explained that Rusteck has a stiffness or soreness in his right [left] shoulder.

“I can’t say what it is,” explained pitching coach Harvey Haddix. “Many times young pitchers can’t tell the difference between soreness and stiffness.

“If it’s stiffness, that can be worked out. If it’s soreness, that’s something else.”

Before yesterday’s games, Haddix had Rusteck throwing from a distance of 90 feet instead of the conventional 60 feet between the mound and the plate. It’s something Harvey himself did as a pitcher because the extra distance required more of an overhand throw and helped stretch the muscles.

“I did it every spring to get the winter stiffness out of my arm,” Haddix explained.

Rusteck said it helped. His arm felt looser after the workout.

“But it’s still sore,” he added.

The Mets are beginning to wonder if they have a problem pitcher on their hands. Rusteck came up from Jacksonville 10 days ago, broke in with a shutout and then was KO’d in the second inning in his next start. He complained of the shoulder problem immediately…

The New York Times reported that the problem was caused by Dick using an unnatural motion because of favoring his elbow after being struck by the line drive at Jacksonville.

On the 26^th Dick pitched the last inning in a 7-0 loss to the Cubs in Chicago, walking two and giving up the final run. On July 3 he felt well enough to start again, at home against the Pirates. As the Newark Star-Ledger put it, “The Mets’ young southpaw, Dick Rusteck, dueled Veale into the fifth inning, but then the heat caught up with him;” it was 1-1 through four, but when the first three Pirate batters in the fifth got hits Dick was removed.

Ultimately, on July 16, it was decided to put Dick on the disabled list. On August 18 he was activated and returned to Jacksonville. In five more starts there he went 0-3, and he finished the season 6-4 with a 2.30 ERA. The Mets called him back up on September 9 and he made four relief appearances, allowing just one run in a total of nine innings; for the year his major league totals were a 3.00 ERA in 24 innings in eight games. Those would also be his career totals.

After the season Dick went back to the Florida Instructional League, where he started three games, pitching just 13 innings; he struck out 11 and walked ten. He left Florida in November to pitch for Caguas in the Puerto Rican Winter League.

In January 1967 Dick signed a new Mets contract; it was reported that he was trying to work his shoulder back into shape in Puerto Rico and that if successful he would have a chance at the Mets’ starting rotation. Late in spring training, though, he was sent to the minor league base for reassignment, and he ended up back with Jacksonville. In April a story that appeared in various newspapers, about ballplayers who were also musicians, said that he played clarinet and saxophone.

In late May, after starting just three games and lasting (again) just 13 innings, Dick was demoted to the Winter Haven Mets of the Class A Florida State League, where he pitched 18 innings in six games, walking 23. On July 17 it was announced that the Mets had sold his contract to Jacksonville. After the season he made one appearance in the Florida Instructional League, two scoreless innings. On December 19 new Mets manager Gil Hodges mentioned that Dick had had elbow surgery.

Dick spent 1968 with Jacksonville, but while recuperating from his surgery he only appeared in 11 games, six of them starts. He had a 4.63 ERA in 35 innings, with 18 walks. Along the way his bad luck manifested itself in other ways—this item appeared in the Pittsfield (MA) Berkshire Eagle, on June 11:

Dick Rusteck, the former Notre Dame pitching star who was regarded as a prize prospect by the New York Mets a few years ago, suffered a broken nose in an automobile accident on Memorial Day. However, the injury only kept him inactive for two days. Rusteck still is with Jacksonville of the International. He’s a friend of Jim O’Brien Jr. of Pittsfield.

And this is from the September 7 Sporting News:

A weird, off-the-field accident in Rochester August 20 put Jacksonville lefthander Dick Rusteck on the disabled list for an indefinite period. Rusteck, walking in downtown Rochester, was struck on the right shoulder by a sheet of glass which apparently fell from a building. Seventeen stitches were needed to close the wound.

Dick returned to the fall Florida Instructional League, where he had a 7.11 ERA in 19 innings, though his control was back—just six walks. Despite that seeming lack of success, the Sporting News of January 4, 1969, reported that he was one of just two non-roster invitees to the Mets’ spring training camp, adding:

…Last spring, Rusteck was recovering from elbow surgery in the Jacksonville camp and could hardly throw a ball…

“Anyone who saw Dick Rusteck break in with a shutout against the Reds at Shea Stadium two years ago,” said [Mets GM Johnny] Murphy, “knows this fellow can pitch in the big leagues if his arm is sound. And I believe his arm is sound.

“What I saw of Rusteck at Jacksonville at the end of the season, and later in one game in the Florida Instructional League, convinced me his arm is sound again. In fact, after I saw him in the instructional league, I ordered Whitey Herzog not to pitch him anymore. I didn’t want to risk losing him in the draft for $25,000.”

Rusteck, 27 and a graduate of Notre Dame, complained that he wasn’t pitching enough in the instructional loop until Murphy explained his motives and advised Dick he would urge Hodges to bring him to the Met camp in February.

“Rusteck is lefthanded and we’re not so deep in the lefthanded department that we couldn’t use another able pitcher,” Murphy reasoned.

Rusteck was 2-4 while recuperating from surgery at Jacksonville last season, but his hard throwing in the final weeks when the Met farmhands were winning a playoff berth and, eventually, the Governor’s Cup, convinced Murphy he deserved another big league look.

After being passed over in the draft Dick pitched for Acarigua in the Venezuelan Winter League, then reported to spring training. He apparently didn’t live up to Murphy’s expectations, and in late March he was sent to the Mets’ new AAA team, the Tidewater Tides of the International League—unfortunately for him he missed out on the Mets’ 1969 season. He also missed out on Tidewater’s season, as before getting into a game he was sold to the Rochester Red Wings, also of the International League, a Baltimore Orioles affiliate. In 18 innings for the Red Wings he had an 8.00 ERA with 15 walks, and on July 4 Rochester assigned him to the Memphis Blues of the Texas League, the Mets’ AA affiliate, which is kind of confusing. For Memphis he pitched 70 innings in 14 games, nine of them starts, and had a 3.73 ERA with 34 walks.

For 1970, after another surgery, Dick somehow wound up in the Twins’ organization, with their AAA team, the Evansville Triplets of the American Association. On March 27 he filled out a questionnaire; he was now 6-1 180, still single, and a teacher in the off-season; his hobbies were still golf and music and he had completed his six-year Army reserve obligation. On May 12 the Evansville Courier and Press reported:

Rusteck’s arm went bad after his stint with the Mets, eventually leading to an operation this winter to remove some bone chips around his elbow.

“So far it hasn’t given me any trouble,” Dick said while here for the opening series. “But I keep knocking on wood.”

On August 11 the same newspaper reported that he “is just beginning to come around in the last month after an elbow operation during the winter.” He ended up having his best year in a while, with a 2.81 ERA in 93 innings in 30 games, 12 of them starts, though with 50 walks. Toward the end of the season the Courier and Press noted that he “will either play winter ball or return to his native Chicago and serve the school system there—elementary and high school—as a substitute teacher.”

For 1971 Dick signed a contract with the Portland Beavers, the Twins’ new AAA team, then was invited to major league spring training. He didn’t make the Twins’ roster and also didn’t make the Beavers’ roster, getting sent to the Charlotte Hornets of the Class AA Dixie Association. Here he had the best year of his career: 17-8 record, 2.40 ERA, 28 starts, 13 of them complete, four of those shutouts, 195 innings, 133 strikeouts and 59 walks. He had a streak of 27 consecutive scoreless innings, pitched in the all-star game, and was named to the Topps Class AA All-Star Team. But he wasn’t protected from the draft, and on November 29, while he was pitching for Los Mochis in the Mexican Pacific Coast Winter League, he was drafted by the Phillies.

For 1972 the Phillies sent Dick to their AAA affiliate, the Eugene Emeralds of the Pacific Coast League. Despite a string of 25 scoreless innings, he didn’t do nearly as well as he had in ’71, with a 5.16 ERA in 157 innings, his walks rising to 82.

In 1973 Dick was out of professional baseball, but in 1974 he caught on with the Dorados de Chihuahua of the Mexican League. He was released in July with a 3.45 ERA in 86 innings, then moved back to Eugene. Soon after, in a Eugene restaurant, he ran into Frank Peters, the maverick player-manager of the independent Class A Portland Mavericks, owned by maverick Bing Russell. Peters talked Dick into signing with the Mavericks and deactivated himself. Dick got into eight games the rest of the season, starting seven and completing six, with a 3.32 ERA in 57 innings. In a December 7 Sporting News article about Bing Russell being named Class A Executive of the Year, Russell was quoted about Dick, now 33 years old:

“He not only won ball games for us,” Russell said, “but he helped our young pitchers with their technique. He didn’t do it from a sideline coaching standpoint alone. He also did it by his performance on the mound.”

Dick returned to the Mavericks in 1975. There was a Northwest League rule that each team could only have one veteran player, which came into play in early August when the team signed Jim Bouton. Dick was released so that Bouton could be signed, but the two were released and re-signed repeatedly, as needed. Dick had a 4.50 ERA in 72 innings in eleven starts.

In 1976 Dick returned to the Mavericks again, now being used in relief. One article mentioned that he “sports a red fireman’s cap in the bullpen.” He had a 2.65 ERA in 34 innings in 15 games. In 1977 he was back, the Sporting News reporting on July 16:

Dick Rusteck, the former Mets’ (1966) pitcher, has found a home with Portland (Northwest), where the Mavericks employ the 36-year-old hurler only in games played at home or in Eugene. A mortgage banker in Portland, Rusteck says he’ll keep playing as long as the club wants his services. “I think I can help some of the young pitchers,” he said.

However, by the time that was published Dick had already been released. Soon after he signed with the Salem Senators, also of the Northwest League, where he finished out the season. Between the two teams he had a 4.13 ERA in 72 innings in 11 games.

This concluded Dick’s professional baseball career. A 1981 Portland Oregonian article on former Mavericks players said that he was working for the Oregon Bank. A post by his wife on a Mets fan website said that he moved to Wasilla, Alaska, in 1982 and lived there for ten years, working for the state, and that at that time (2008) they were retired in Arizona.

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