Stolen base guru Lou Brock passes away at age 81

Lou Brock (Wikimedia Commons)

Lou Brock of El Dorado, Arkansas, one of the greatest baseball players of all-time, passed away at the age of 81 on Sunday according to Baseball-Reference. Brock was simply known for his ability to steal bases.

In 2616 regular season games with the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals from 1961 to 1979, Brock had 938 stolen bases. That ranks him second all-time, only behind Rickey Henderson, who had 1406 stolen bases. Brock also ranks first all-time in National League regular season stolen bases, and holds the record for the most consecutive seasons with 50 or more stolen bases (12, from 1965 to 1976).

Brock also had a huge impact in the playoffs. He holds the record for the most stolen bases in the World Series (14), and in 1968, tied the Major League Baseball record for most hits in a single World Series (13). Brock is tied with Bobby Richardson of the New York Yankees (1964), and Marty Barrett of the Boston Red Sox (1986). Interestingly in the seasons that Brock, Richardson and Barrett had 13 hits in the World Series, they never won the World Series. This statistic increases the argument just how unlucky the number 13 can be.

Brock was also involved in the most lopsided trade in Major League Baseball history. On June 15, 1964, Brock was traded from the Cubs to the Cardinals with Jack Spring and Paul Toth for Ernie Broglio, Bobby Shantz and Doug Clemens. At the time, Cardinals general manager Bing Devine was harshly criticized for the deal. However, Broglio and Shantz turned out to be busts for the Cubs. Shantz never won a game for the Cubs despite winning 24 games as the American League Most Valuable Player with the Philadelphia Athletics in 1952, and Broglio only won seven games for the Cubs from 1964 to 1966, after winning 18 games with the Cardinals in 1963.

In a remarkable career with the Cardinals, he won two World Series with St. Louis (1964 and 1967), was a six-time all-star and led the National League in stolen bases eight times. In 1974, Brock set the National League single season record for stolen bases with 118. Brock’s number 20 has been retired by the Cardinals, and in 1985 was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

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