Editing Lou Brock (section)

===St. Louis Cardinals===
After Brock was traded to the Cardinals, his career turned around. He moved to left field and batted .348 and stole 33 bases for the remainder of the [[1964 St. Louis Cardinals season|1964 season]].<ref name="Lou Brock statistics"/> At the time of the trade, the Cardinals were 28–31, in eighth place in the [[National League (baseball)|National League]], trailing even the Cubs, who were 27–27 and in sixth place. Brock helped the Cardinals storm from behind to capture the National League [[Pennant (sports)|pennant]] on the last day of the season.<ref name="Success Story: Lou Brock's Climb to the Hall of Fame"/> Four months to the day after Brock's trade, the Cardinals won the [[1964 World Series]] in seven games over the favored [[1964 New York Yankees season|New York Yankees]], who were appearing in their 14th World Series in 16 years (and their last until a dozen years later). Brock's contributions to the Cardinals' championship season were recognized when he finished in tenth place in voting for the 1964 National League [[Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award|Most Valuable Player Award]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/awards/awards_1964.shtml#NLmvp |title=1964 National League Most Valuable Player Award voting results |website=Baseball Reference |access-date=April 19, 2011}}</ref> Meanwhile, Broglio won only seven games for the Chicago Cubs before retiring from baseball after the 1966 season. To this day, the trade of [[Brock for Broglio]] is considered one of the most lopsided deals in baseball history.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SCsDAAAAMBAJ&q=aaron+robinson+baseball+digest&pg=PA32 |title=These Were the Ten Most Lopsided Player Trades |author=Gold, Eddie |date=August 1996 |magazine=Baseball Digest |access-date=April 19, 2011}}</ref>

[[File:Lou Brock - St. Louis Cardinals.jpg|200px|left|thumb|Brock with the Cardinals, {{c.|1977}}]]
In [[1966 St. Louis Cardinals season|1966]], Brock ended [[Maury Wills]]' six-year reign as the National League's stolen base champion with 74 steals.<ref>{{cite news |title=National Loop Hitting Crown Won By Alou |agency=Associated Press |work=Gadsden Times |page=15 |date=December 11, 1966 |access-date=April 19, 2011 |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=DRApAAAAIBAJ&pg=874,1465586}}</ref> In [[David Halberstam]]'s book, ''October 1964'', the author stated manager Johnny Keane asked Brock to forgo hitting home runs in favor of stealing bases.<ref name="Lou Brock: Base Stealing Demands Mental Discipline">{{cite magazine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ry4DAAAAMBAJ&q=lou+brock+baseball+digest&pg=PA35 |title=Lou Brock: Base Stealing Demands Mental Discipline |author=Stone, George |date=September 1990 |magazine=Baseball Digest |access-date=April 19, 2011}}</ref> Brock went on to lead the National League in stolen bases eight times within a nine-year span between 1966 and 1974 (former teammate [[Bobby Tolan]] led the league in steals in 1970).<ref name="Success Story: Lou Brock's Climb to the Hall of Fame"/>

Brock began the [[1967 St. Louis Cardinals season|1967 season]] by hitting five home runs in the first four games of the season, becoming the first player to do so ([[Barry Bonds]] tied this record in 2002).<ref>{{cite news |title=Lou Brock Slowed To Trot By Power |agency=United Press International |work=The Pittsburgh Press |date=April 17, 1967 |access-date=April 19, 2011 |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=2kgqAAAAIBAJ&pg=3738,1394989}}</ref> He was hitting for a .328 average by mid-June to earn the role as the starting left fielder for the National League in the [[1967 Major League Baseball All-Star Game|1967 All-Star Game]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/gl.cgi?id=brocklo01&t=b&year=1967 |title=1967 Lou Brock batting log |website=Baseball Reference |access-date=April 19, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/ALS/ALS196707110.shtml |title=1967 All-Star Game |website=Baseball Reference |access-date=April 19, 2011}}</ref> After suffering through a mid-season slump, he recovered to finish the season with a career-high 206 [[Hit (baseball)|hits]] and a .299 batting average while leading the league in stolen bases and [[Run (baseball)|runs]] scored as the Cardinals won the National League pennant by ten and a half games. Brock became the first player in MLB history to [[20–50 club|steal 50 bases and hit 20 home runs in the same season]].<ref name="Success Story: Lou Brock's Climb to the Hall of Fame"/> In the [[1967 World Series]], Brock hit for a .414 average, scored eight runs, and set a World Series record with seven stolen bases as the Cardinals defeated the [[1967 Boston Red Sox season|Boston Red Sox]] in seven games.<ref>{{cite news |title=Gibson Gets His Car, Says Brock Real Hero |agency=Associated Press |work=Daytona Beach Morning Journal |page=7 |date=October 17, 1967 |access-date=April 19, 2011 |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=e24eAAAAIBAJ&pg=1875,3617083}}</ref>

The Cardinals won the National League pennant for a second consecutive year in [[1968 St. Louis Cardinals season|1968]] as Brock once again led the league in stolen bases as well as in [[Double (baseball)|doubles]] and [[Triple (baseball)|triples]].<ref name="Lou Brock statistics"/> In the [[1968 World Series]] against the [[1968 Detroit Tigers season|Detroit Tigers]], Brock had three stolen bases in Game 3 and contributed a double, triple, home run, and four runs batted in during Game 4 to help the Cardinals build a three-games to one advantage over the Tigers.<ref name="1968 World Series">{{cite web |url=http://www.baseball-almanac.com/ws/yr1968ws.shtml |title=1968 World Series |publisher=Baseball Almanac |access-date=December 24, 2011}}</ref> The Cardinals appeared to be on the verge of winning a second consecutive World Series, going into the fifth inning of Game 5 with a 3–2 lead.<ref name="1968 World Series"/> Although Brock's base running abilities had proven to be a factor in the previous four games, his carelessness may have cost the Cardinals a run.<ref name="1968 World Series"/> After Brock had hit a double, he tried to score standing up on [[Julián Javier]]'s single to left, but [[Willie Horton (baseball)|Willie Horton]] threw him out with a strong throw to home plate.<ref name="1968 World Series"/> Detroit rallied for three runs in the seventh inning as [[Mickey Lolich]] shut out the Cardinals for the final eight innings to win the game for the Tigers.<ref name="1968 World Series"/> In Game 7, Brock had another crucial miscue when he was [[Pickoff|picked off]] base by Lolich, extinguishing a possible Cardinals rally.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thisgreatgame.com/1968.html |title=1968: Year of the Pitcher |publisher=thisgreatgame.com |access-date=December 24, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111224181907/http://www.thisgreatgame.com/1968.html |archive-date=December 24, 2011 }}</ref> The Tigers rallied from being down three games to one behind the excellent pitching of Mickey Lolich to win the series.<ref name="1968 World Series"/> Brock once again stole seven bases and was the leading hitter in the series, posting a .464 batting average with six runs and five [[runs batted in]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/brocklo01.shtml#batting_postseason::none |title=Lou Brock post-season statistics |website=Baseball Reference |access-date=April 19, 2011}}</ref>

Beginning in [[1969 St. Louis Cardinals season|1969]], Brock produced six consecutive seasons with 190 hits or better. He was named [[Major League Baseball Player of the Month Award|NL Player of the Month]] for the first of three times in his career in May 1971 with a .405 batting average and 8 stolen bases. In August 1973, he broke a record set by [[Ty Cobb]] when he stole his 50th base of the season, marking the ninth time he had stolen 50 or more bases in a season.<ref>{{cite news |title=Lou Brock Still Having Fun Stealing Bases |agency=Associated Press |work=Schenectady Gazette |page=26 |date=August 28, 1973 |access-date=April 19, 2011 |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=32hGAAAAIBAJ&pg=3395,2949056}}</ref> Brock won his second NL Player of the Month Award in August 1974, marking one of only four times the award was given to a player who [[slugging percentage|slugged]] below .500.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Martin |first1=Cameron |title=Exploring The Player of the Month Award |url=https://tht.fangraphs.com/exploring-the-player-of-the-month-award/ |website=[[FanGraphs]]|date=April 30, 2019 }}</ref>

In 1972, Brock improved on Maury Wills' method by, instead of trying to maximize lead off distance, focusing on starting with a little momentum. "Brock pioneered the rolling start," states a later ''[[Sports Illustrated]]'' article, which also maintains that base-stealing tends to be overrated as a factor in team success.<ref name="SI1982">[https://www.si.com/vault/1982/09/06/624392/so-whats-all-the-fuss So What's All The Fuss? Rickey Henderson may be the Man of the Hour but, argues the Author, Base Stealing has Never Really Amounted to Very Much], ''Sports Illustrated'', Bill James, September 6, 1982.  This article gives a historical overview of base stealing primarily of the 1950s, '60s, and '70s.</ref>