Page 6 THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2020 The Stealer By The Old Sachem, Bill Stewart L ou Brock was a champion at base stealing, six times leading the National League in stolen bases. He was the record holder until Ricky Henderson passed the 118 mark set by Lou Brock during the 1974 season with the St. Louis Cardinals. During his career he stole 938 bases: 50 during his four years with the Chicago Cubs and 888 with the Cardinals. Brock was born June 18, 1939, in El Dorado, Arkansas, to a family of sharecroppers, then when he was two years old, the family moved to Collinston, Louisiana. As a child he was a fan of the Brooklyn Dodgers; mainly he thought of Jackie Robinson as an idol. He played high school baseball at Mer Rouge, Louisiana. Lou died September 6, 2020, in St. Charles, Louisiana. He was given academic assistance to attend Southern University in Baton Rouge, but a low grade freshman year, meant that the award might be ended, so he tried out for the baseball team. He obtained a baseball scholarship and as a freshman only batted .189. As a sophomore he rose up to a .500 batting average. His junior year saw the team capture the National Association Intercollegiate Athletics Baseball Championship. He was selected to play for the United States team in the 1959 Pan American Games. When the Pan Am games concluded he went to St. Louis to try out for the Cardinals in 1959, but the scout that recruited him was in Seattle to sign Ray Washburn, so Brock was overlooked. He went to a tryout with the Cubs in 1960 and was signed as a free agent assigned to play for the St. Cloud Rox. For the 1961 season he batted .361 and was named the Northern League batting champion. On September 10, 1961, Law Offices of Terrence W. Kennedy 512 Broadway, Everett • Criminal Defense • Personal Injury • Medical Malpractice Tel: (617) 387-9809 Cell: (617) 308-8178 twkennedylaw@gmail.com Brock made his debut with the Cubs but only appeared in four games. The 1962 season was another story. He batted .263 in 123 games, scored 73 runs, belted nine home runs, and started his production of stolen bases with 16. Eight times he batted above 300 in the National League. The Cubs gave up on Brock, trading him to the Cardinals in 1964. Brock felt appreciated by the Cards and turned around his career. He became their left fielder, batted .348 and stole 33 bases. At the time of the trade, the Cards were limping along at 28 wins and 31 losses, eighth place in the league. With the new players they changed their attitude and went on to win the National League pennant on the last day of the season. In 1966 Lou broke the Maury Wills six-year reign as the leading base stealer, accruing 78 stolen bases. The Cards manager at the time, Johnny Keane, asked Brock to let up on trying to smack home runs and encouraged him to concentrate on getting on base and stealing. However, Lou smacked five home runs in the first four games of the 1967 season, as the first major leaguer to climb this sumORDER | FROM PAGE 2 said the plans now include “a green wall between the project and residential properties,” consisting of some 40 arborvitae shrubs. Salvo said he also added additional flood storage capacity. “To set the record straight, this property is in B-1 Zoning District, neighborhood business zoning district…We’re not even covering 25 percent of the property,” he said. “The size of the building meets all dimensional sizes of mit. He made the All-Star team for the first time and during his career had five more appearances. The 1967 Cardinals again won the National League pennant, this time by 10 1/2 games. During the season Brock batted .299 and became the first player to hit 20 homeruns and steal 50 bases in a season. They went on to beat our beloved Red Sox in seven games. In the series Brock batted .414, scored eight runs and set a World Series record of eight stolen bases. The Cardinals repeated as NL champions in 1968; Brock led the league in stolen bases, doubles and triples because of his speed on the basepaths. In game three of the World Series versus the Detroit Tigers, Brock had three stolen bases and a double, triple and home run. The Tigers won the series, but Brock had seven stolen bases and was the leading batter in the series with an average of .464, scoring six runs and five runs batted in. From 1969, Brock had six consecutive seasons where he had 190 hits or better. In 1972 he started a new process for base stealing. The Maury Wells system required long leadoffs, which sometimes led to pickthe zoning,” he added. Project Manager Todd Undzis, of BETA Group, a peer review firm paid for by the applicant and selected by the town, concluded that the project complies with the state Wetlands Protection Act and the town’s zoning bylaws. Undzis insisted that the project will not improve or make worse the flooding conditions experienced by the abutters; it will, however, improve the situation with respect to the impact of any storm water on the property that the veterans housing offs. Brock developed the rolling start, starting from close to the base and dashing as the pitcher let go of the ball. In a 19-year big league career, Brock played in 2,616 games, whacked 3,023 hits and had a .293 batting average. He hit 486 doubles, 141 triples, 149 home runs, 900 RBIs, 1,610 runs scored, 938 stolen bases, 761 bases on balls and a .410 slugging percentage. Brock was a league All-Star six times, twice on a World Championship, eight times the league stolen base leader, and he was named the winner of the Roberto Clemente Award in 1975. In 1977 he was awarded the Lou Gehrig Award, and in 1978 the NL announced their annual stolen base leader would be named the Lou Brock winner, the first active player to have an award named after him. His jersey number 20 was retired in 1979, only the fourth player of the Cardinals to receive that honor; the others were Bob Gibson, Stan Musial and Dizzy Dean. He was inducted into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame in 1983, and in the Cardinals Hall of Fame in its first year along with 21 others in the inaugural STEALER | SEE PAGE 10 encompasses. Conservation Commission members stressed that they could only consider issues within the purview of their responsibilities – the Wetlands Protection Act and local zoning bylaws. They have nothing to do with the issuance of the building permit or issues that would come before the Planning Board. Neighbors near the project site have been consulting with a lawyer as they consider whether to challenge the project.
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