Lou Brock passes at 81

edoug

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Jul 15, 2005
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Even when other teams make horrible trades, they come back to haunt the Red Sox.

RIP Lou
 

staz

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The cradle of the game.
For all his speed, Brock was one of the very few players to hit one out to CF in the Polo Grounds. IIRC, he handled getting passed by Ricky with class.

R.I.P.
 

bankshot1

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where I was last at
I was lucky enough to see Lou from the CF bleachers in G2 and G7 of the '67 WS.

He destroyed the Sox with his bat and legs.
Gibson did it with his arm.


RIP Lou
 

edoug

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For all his speed, Brock was one of the very few players to hit one out to CF in the Polo Grounds. IIRC, he handled getting passed by Ricky with class.

R.I.P.
The ball took a $50 cab trip.
 

Ale Xander

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Very ironic he died during a Cards Cardinals series. Wonder how long the NL SB record will stand up with the new emphasis on power over speed.
 

canderson

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He was the first HOFer not named Babe Ruth I was a fan of and researched deeply. What a career and from all I’ve read, an equally great man.
 

DamageTrain

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I was bummed out when Henderson snagged the stolen base record from him. And he's prominent in one of my favorite Tribe Called Quest lyrics:

"Okay, if knowledge is the key then just show me the lock, got the scrawny legs but I move just like Lou Brock" - Q-Tip
 

terrynever

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I remember reading a magazine piece about Brock in the 1970s where the writer described driving with Brock on a rainy day in St. Louis as he searched for a gas station with an overhead roof so the guy pumping the gas would not get wet. Lou Brock was a gentle soul in so many ways.
 

canderson

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Thank you for sharing - a great read. I loved - loved - this part:

“First base is useless,” he said in 1974. “And most of the time it is useless to stay there.

“On the other hand, second base is really the safest place on the field. When I steal second, I practically eliminate the double play. And I can score on any ball hit past the infield.”

To Brock, “the most important thing about base stealing is not the steal of the base, but distracting the pitcher’s concentration. If I can do that, then the hitter will have a better pitch to swing at and I will get a better chance to steal.”
 

E5 Yaz

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Thank you for sharing - a great read. I loved - loved - this part:
It's filled with great stuff, including ...

Brock, who would establish himself as one of the greatest leadoff hitters ever, recalled his teammates asking him after he got hot in the second half of the 1964 season, “Are you sure you were a Cub?’"
And Bob Gibson is 85?
 

Dummy Hoy

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Jul 22, 2006
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What a fascinating player (and great man by all accounts). Hitting balls out of CF at the polo grounds at 24, stealing 118 bases at 35. Slashed 391/424/655 in 21 World Series games.

This year sucks
 

Deweys New Stance

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Had a pair of these sweet kicks in the mid-70's. Definitely didn't make me run any faster, but they looked cool. And The Gray Eagle just beat me to posting the Brock-a-brella. Poor Ernie Broglio had it even worse than Milt Pappas or Danny Cater. Tremendous ballplayer and person. RIP Lou Brock.

Brock.jpg
 

SoxJox

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Dec 22, 2003
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Coming late to this to share an anecdote.

In Sep of 1971, when I was living in PA, my dad took my brother and me down to Philly to take in a DH at the Vet (what a horrible venue). The Phillies' Rick Wise was up against Bob Gibson for Game 1. That was the first and only time I saw Gibson pitch. He was 35 that year but still threw 20 complete games in 31 starts.
In any case, when Brock came up in the top of the 4th, Manny Muniz, who had replaced Wise after 2 innings, threw a ball up under Brock's chin. Down went Brock. Pitches 2 and 3 were deja vu. Brock casually walks out about a third of the way to the mound and wags the bat at Muniz while obviously saying something. Muniz remained on the mound...I couldn't make out whether he was engaging in some verbicuffs (yes, that's a new internet word). McCarver walked out and got between Muniz and Brock and, after a few words directed toward Muniz, started walking back to the plate. As he passed him, Brock must have said something because next thing you know McCarver throws a wicked right that lands square on Brock's chin. Down he goes. Benches empty, but no real damage is done to either side. McCarver gets ejected. Brock walks on the next pitch and promptly steals second. He went on to steal 3 additional bases that day.

McCarver had been charged earlier with an error on dropped pop foul. What I didn't know until I read this was that apparently the Cardinals dugout rode McCarver near continuously afterward and reportedly got under his skin. So McCarver was probably still fuming a bit, and Brock had already stolen a base against him in the 3rd.