Lou Brock, all of 18 years old, had arrived at the critical moment of what already had been a difficult life. Born to poor sharecroppers who put him to work in the cotton fields of rural northeast Louisiana as soon as he could walk, young Lou had developed an analytical mind. He represented tiny Union High School in Mer Rouge with distinction in math and chemistry competitions, earning an academic scholarship to Southern University.
As so often happens to rural youth in a big city, Lou spent his first semester in college doing more partying than studying and lost his scholarship. Determined to avoid returning to the poverty of his home, the athletic Brock tirelessly chased after baseballs at Southern University’s varsity practice with the hope of getting a tryout. His determination and resilience impressed the coach, who granted him an opportunity to hit five pitches. In short order, three balls sailed over the outfield fence, and Brock’s Hall of Fame journey began.
Louis Clark Brock, who died at the age of 81 at a St. Louis hospital last week, was baseball’s exemplar of optimistic, dogged resilience. He is best known for setting single-season and career records in stolen bases in the 1970s, marks eclipsed by Rickey Henderson a decade later, but he most helped his Cardinals win three National League pennants and two World Series rings by scoring runs. Brock garnered over 3,000 hits during his 18-season career and scored over 1,600 runs. He played in almost every game until his late 30s.
Using his background in math and science, Brock became an early pioneer in baseball metrics, often filming opposing pitchers and catchers and timing them with a stopwatch from the dugout. He instructed the batter following him in the lineup to take his stance at the very rear of the batter’s box so the opposing catcher had to move back as well, making the throw to second base a fraction farther. He pioneered the “rolling start” method of base-stealing, which emphasized momentum over taking the largest lead possible from first base.
“First base is useless, and, most of the time, it is useless to stay there. When I steal second, I practically eliminate the double play and can score on any ball hit past the infield,” he would say. It showed in his play. Brock was a muscular, line-drive hitter who eschewed walks and drag bunts, unusual for a speedy base-stealer.
At the outset of his career, Lou’s strength was his pitfall. Signed by the Chicago Cubs at the urging of Buck O’Neil, one of the first black scouts and coaches, Brock became only the fourth ballplayer in history to launch a ball over 483 feet into the centerfield bleachers of the Polo Grounds during a game. Trying for home runs, his batting average suffered, and his manager rarely allowed him to steal bases. Over O’Neil’s objections, Lou was traded to the Cardinals for pitcher Ernie Broglio, a transaction that initially looked favorable to Chicago but now is regarded as one of the most lopsided swaps in baseball history — Broglio would win only seven games as a Cub.
O’Neil would later argue racism played a role in the Brock trade, saying Cubs General Manager John Holland showed him letters from longtime season ticket holders upset there were “too many” black players on the team. Indeed, with the exception of Ernie Banks, almost every black Cub in the 1950s and 1960s was traded away within two years of being signed.
In St. Louis, manager Johnny Keane advised Brock to get on base and use his speed to score runs. While Brock never developed superior pitch selection at the plate, he did abandon his pursuit of home runs. Lou rapidly became a .300 hitter, amassing 180 or more hits in a season 11 times, which allowed him to steal 50 or more bases a record 12 seasons in a row. Lou still shares the career record for stolen bases in the World Series and is one of the all-time career leaders in World Series batting average.
As a black man who grew up in the rural South, Brock was keenly aware of and suffered from racial discrimination but maintained an optimistic public face while allowing his more activist teammates such as Curt Flood, Bob Gibson, and Bill White to be in the vanguard. Brock received racist hate mail and death threats in 1977 when he was on the cusp of surpassing Ty Cobb’s career stolen-base record and was incensed when, in 1979, Jimmy Carter’s White House invited Carl Yastrzemski for a visit upon the occasion of his 3,000th hit, while ignoring Brock reaching that goal a month earlier. (The White House belatedly extended him an invitation.)
Suffering from heart disease, cancer, and diabetes in his final years, Brock maintained his optimistic resilience. He and his wife were ordained ministers who operated a local business, and he was a fan favorite and fixture at Cardinals’ gatherings. Given the narrowest of opportunities, Lou Brock stole his way into the Hall of Fame and into the hearts of baseball fans.
Nathan Wurtzel is a veteran Republican political consultant and a lifelong baseball fan.
