Later this summer, Lou Brock will probably reach a milestone achieved by only 13 other players in all baseball history. Barring some unforeseen problem, he will break 3,000 hits in his baseball career.
Brock holds the highest career batting average for World Series games, a whopping .391. For some weeks this year, he was leading the National League with a .350 batting average, although he is 40 years old.
But it is as a base stealer that Lou Brock is most famous. He holds the record for the most stolen bases in a major league career, now more than 920. He has long since passed up Ty Cobb’s record of 892. No one else is even close. In lifetime steals, Brock is about 300 steals ahead of his nearest rival among active players.
Brock also holds the single-season base-stealing record with 118 bases. The next closest are Maury Wills with 104 and Ty Cobb with 96. As the all-time champion, Lou personally prsents the annual Lou Brock Base Stealing Award financed by the major leagues.
The most remarkable part of his single-season base-stealing record is that he did it when he was age 35. Usually a player’s big stealing years are about ten years younger. Running speed records are seldom set by athletes past age 30.
Brock stole his 118 bases at a time when the umpires would rarely call balks. Since then, the rules on when a pitcher can try to pick off a runner have been tightened up and umpires call many more balks. He would have stolen many more bases if current rules had been in effect during the year when he made his record.
Lou Brock’s extra-base hitting ability also put him at a disadvantage with his single-season record rivals, Cobb and Wills. Because Brock hit many doubles and some home runs instead of singles, he had fewer opportunities to steal second, which is the easier base.
To the true baseball fan, the most exciting play is not the home run but the stolen base. When Lou Brock gets on base, tension and excitement fill the air as each player prepares for a dramatic moment.
Opposing pitchers and catchers seem more eager to stop Brock than to get the batter out. Pitch-outs are thrown to give the catcher a split-second advantage in releasing the ball. Pick-off plays are set up to catch Brock off first base or to cut down his lead. Outwitting Brock becomes more important than winning the game.
Brock is not the fastest runner in baseball, so his base-stealing ability does not depend on his speed. He has a magnificent sense of timing and psychology. He has learned how to “read” the pitcher.
Great base stealers steal off the pitcher, not the catcher, and that is the way Brock does it. He has made a deep study of each pitcher’s body rhythm. A mathematics major in college, Brock has carefully worked out the time and distance equations he must beat in order to arrive on base ahead of the ball.
To the fans, it looks something like a cat and mouse game between Brock and the pitchers. Many pitchers may throw to first base a dozen times in their efforts to pick Lou off base before his steal is successful.
Lou Brock is not only a great and enduring athlete. He is one of St. Louis’ most distinguished citizens. Off-season he is tireless in donating his time to many charitable, civic and patriotic enterprises.
Fans will always remember that, in his moment of triumph when he beat Ty Cobb’s record and the spectators went wild with enthusiasm, Brock stepped up to the microphone and modestly shared his glory with the rest of the Cardinals. His devoted fans are confident that he will soon be elected to the baseball Hall of Fame along with some 170 select all-time great baseball players.
