Lou Brock
QUICK FACTS
Lou Brock was born in El Dorado, Arkansas in 1939 and was raised in Collinston Louisiana, where he started playing baseball. Lou was a shy young boy. He looked up to his older brothers. Lou did not start playing baseball until he was 13 but had loved the game before he even began playing. As a punishment for shooting spitballs in school, Lou was told to do some research on some stars like Jackie Robinson. As he did the research on those people, he dreamed what it would be like to have that kind of money and get to do something that you loved (Black History 18).
At Union High School in Mer Rouge Louisiana, Brock was a bright and hard-working student. He represented the school in state math and science bees. Later, he enrolled at Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He majored in math and played on the baseball team (Black History 18).
He could not afford to graduate. He was getting bonus offers from professional baseball teams. He did not want to wait three more years to start earning money. He entered professional athletics in 1959. He got his first feel of professional athletics when he played in the Pan- American games for the U.S. baseball team in Chicago. The Chicago Cubs asked him to tryouts in 1959 and 1960 after they watched him play in the Pan-American games. In one of the tryouts, he got the attention of Ernie Banks. Banks gave him the encouragement to stay with baseball because he felt Lou had a talent. In 1961, he signed with the Cubs. (Black History 20).
After his meeting with Banks, he went to St. Cloud of the Northern League. He led the leaguein hits, runs, doubles, and his batting average was .361. They were so impressed thatthey called him upto the majors. He was only 5 feet ll inches tall and weighed 170 pounds. They were so impressed by his speed and power that it made them anxious to make him a major leaguer (Black History 20).
As a rookie, he had batted .263 and hit nine home runs. Only two men before him had ever accomplished this. He earned his way to start his career in the outfield the next season. His batting average was .258 in 1963. After his start in 1964, he went into a 3 for 42 slump. They started to wonder if they were wrong about Brock. The lack of money by the Cubs organization and the doubts as to whether Brock was worth the money led to his being traded to the St. Cardinals. The Cardinals took a chance and it paid off (Encyclopedia Britannica
In 1964, Brock lead the Cardinals to a World Series Championship. They went on to win two more pennants under Brock’s leadership in 1967 and 1968. Brock went on to gain much fame as the all time base stealing champion in the majors(Encyclopedia Britannica.
When Brock retired in 1979, he knew had met the dreams he had made as a child. Not only had he been able to do what he loved, but he had been able to make much money along the way. He will always be remembered as one of the best baseball players of all times.
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