Go Figure: Lou Brock trivia teasers
In death, as in life, they were linked.
Six days apart, pitcher Tom Seaver and outfielder Lou Brock passed away, the latter on Sept. 6. Both were nicknamed The Franchise, and they squared off against each other more than anyone else they encountered throughout their Hall of Fame careers - Brock going 38 for 152 (. 250 average, 43 points below his career average).
Here are some other Brock facts you may not have known - you might say they are coming out of left field, the area Brock patrolled for 2,163 of his 2,507 games on defense.
When he retired at the end of the 1979 season, Brock was not only first all-time in career stolen bases (938) but second in strikeouts, with 1,730. Over the last four decades, only Rickey Henderson has passed him by with 1,406 steals, while Brock has since dropped to 34th in strikeouts.
Q1. When Brock's playing days ended, who was the only man (still active at the time) to whiff more often throughout his career?
(Reggie Jackson, Willie Stargell, Tony Perez)
It was part of a six-man trade during the 1964 season, but when Brock was dealt from the Cubs to the St. Louis Cardinals, it was largely regarded as an exchange of the young outfielder for 1960 NL wins leader Ernie Broglio.
At the time, they were alphabetically back-to-back among all big leaguers - a quirky record that may be matched but will never be eclipsed.
Q2. What was Brock's lifetime batting average against Broglio?
(.111, .244, .407)
Q3. Who was the former Most Valuable Player who also came over to the Cubs in that swap at the trade deadline?
(Jim Konstanty, Hank Sauer, Bobby Shantz)
Q4. As a Cub playing against the Mets on June 17, 1962, Brock became only the third player to hit a home run into the center field bleachers at the Polo Grounds.
Which of the following players did not precede him in accomplishing this feat?
(Babe Ruth, Joe Adcock, Johnny Mize)
In a game against the Cubs on Aug. 13, 1979, when Brock became the 14th player to reach 3,000 hits, it came five innings before Cardinal third baseman Ken Reitz notched his 1,000th career hit.
As a result, Brock barely won a bet the teammates had made in spring training about who would be the first to reach their respective milestones.
Q5. What was riding on the bet between Brock and Reitz?
(A steak dinner, a set of golf clubs, a case of beer)
Decisive dominance
So far in 2020, of the 40 MLB pitchers who had started nine or 10 games entering Friday's action, only four had decisions in all of their starts. Two of them are Cubs: Yu Darvish (7-2 in nine starts) and Kyle Hendricks (5-4 in nine starts).
That is a complete Yu-turn from 2019, when Darvish went 10 starts without recording a decision - the longest drought for a starting pitcher since Philadelphia's Randy Lerch in 1977.
Told you so
Remember four weeks ago, when Charlie Blackmon of the Colorado Rockies was batting .500, with 34 hits through 17 games? In that Sunday's "Go Figure," I deemed a .400 average for the entire 60-game season to be a long shot, going so far as to opine Blackmon would be "hard-pressed to keep his average above .375."
Through Thursday, he was down to .327, mired in a 19-for-94 (.202) skid. With 17 games to go, if Blackmon were to duplicate his 34-for-68 start, he'd finish at .378.
Back-to-back batting titles?
One of many South Side hitters who is consistently crushing the ball, shortstop Tim Anderson could become the first White Sox player to lead the American League in batting average in back-to-back seasons. As of Friday, his .350 average trailed only the .355 mark for Yankees first baseman D.J. LeMahieu.
Q6. Since 1900, who is the only Cub to win back-to-back batting titles?
(Bill Buckner, Billy Williams, Bill Madlock)
Answers
1. Willie Stargell; 2. .244 (10-for-41); 3. Bobby Shantz; 4. Johnny Mize; 5. A steak dinner; 6. Bill Madlock (1975-76)
• Matt Baron is an Oak Park-based freelance writer. He supplements his baseball brainpower with Retrosheet.org for research.