When I was in college we had a game in Indianapolis over Thanksgiving break. He happened to be at the same hotel at a convention or something. We were eating pizza in the lounge after our game ... I’m talking like midnight ... maybe just 6-8 of us ... and he approached us, sat down, and chatted for about an hour and ate with us. It was incredible (I knew who he was, but I don’t think he thought we really knew haha). RIP
Sorry to hear and prayers to his family. First Tom Seaver, now Lou Brock. These 70's stars passing away are making me feel old.
Lou Brock was a great player. I remember him as a very humble and classy man. I know he started off w/the Cubs, but I was really young then and don't remember those years.
I do remember him w/the Cardinals. I am not sure about this, but I think he was the all-time steals leader. If not, he was right up there.
But, he was more than that. I remember him as a guy who went through a stretch where he hit around .300 or better for several years in a row. Combine that w/his base stealing skills, it made life very uncomfortable for opposing pitchers, catchers, and managers.
The Cardinals were loaded back then. I remember Curt Flood as an excellent player who also changed baseball forever. They had guys like Bob Gibson [one of the best pitchers of all time,] Steve Carlton [dominant,] Mike Shannon, Tim McCarver, Del Maxville, Vic Davalillo, Jose Cardinal, Dick Allen, Mike Torrez [I think,] Joe Torre, Cookie Rojas, Leron Lee, etc. They were managed by the great Red Schoendiest.
I apologize if I butchered the spellings of the names. Just wanted to say that that they had some great teams and that Lou Brock was a great player. Pretty sure he is in the HOF.
One more thing..........I used to love the Cards vs Cubs games. Great fans in both cities and those games really meant something.
Hard to watch the passing of some of these great ballplayers.
Baseball holds on to these great players in our memories.
RIP Lou Brock.
Big name from back then.
Rest in Peace Mr. Lou Brock
1967 St. Louis Cardinals
Lou Brock
Tim McCarver
Curt Flood
Del Maxvill
Roger Maris
Joe Horner
Bob Gibson
Steve Carlton
Orlando Cepeda
What a team.
RIP Lou, I enjoyed every minute I got to watch you play.
I read that dead center at the Polo Grounds was 483 ft from home plate. The drive that Vic Wertz hit in the '54 World Series that Willie Mays made "The Catch" on was reportedly around 460 ft. I loved how old ballparks were all different, not cookie-cutter. The Polo Grounds left field line was 279 ft and the right field line was 258 ft. Power alleys were 450 and 449 ft. Man! Lots of triples and inside-the-park homers back then, I bet.
Back when Baseball was fun.
There aren’t many left: Wrigley, Fenway, and Yankee Stadium (rebuilt but with same dimensions, I believe), & maybe one or two others I’m not remembering at the moment. Those old ballparks were unique.