Lou Brock (1939-2020)

Losing two Hall of Famers in the same week is just depressing.

The Chicago Cubs signed Lou Brock out of Southern University in 1960 and in his first pro season Brock torn the Northern League apart, batting .361 with 38 stolen bases. So the Cubs made him their Opening Day centre fielder the following April. The 1961 Northern League was roughly equivalent to A ball today, so they were expecting quite the leap froma 23 year old in just his second pro season. When Lou batted just .263 the Cubs were simply dismayed. They also couldn't fathom how a player so fast could be such a bad outfielder. So, despite the fact that Lou's arm was always well below average, they tried him in right field in…