Lou Brock Still Stole The Show & We Had the Wrong Logo

A busted podcast name. A stack of fresh hats with the wrong logo. And a perfectly timed pivot into one of the most electric careers in baseball history. We kick off Fungos and Fastballs with a candid origin story and sprint straight into Lou Brock’s life, legacy, and the steals that changed the game.

We trace Brock from Southern University in Baton Rouge to a career-defining trade that sent him from the Cubs to the Cardinals, where a shift toward small ball unlocked his full potential. You’ll hear why Johnny Keane’s philosophy mattered, how Brock smashed Maury Wills’s single-season record with 118 steals, and how Rickey Henderson later pushed the ceiling to 130. Beyond the headlines, we highlight Brock’s six consecutive 190-plus hit seasons, his 3,023 career hits, and the World Series performances that still turn heads: seven steals in both 1967 and 1968 and a scorching .414 at the plate. We also unpack the odd history of stolen base stats, why 19th-century counting made Billy Hamilton a leaderboard puzzle, and how those quirks shape modern baseball debates.

It’s not just numbers. Brock’s personality shines through stories of kindness, humor, and confidence—from taking a single right-handed at-bat at 37 to endorsing the Brockabrella, to inspiring a young fan with a simple lesson about the power of a smile. We close with his late-career resurgence, Comeback Player of the Year at 40, the Cardinals retiring No. 20, and a first-ballot trip to Cooperstown. If you love baseball history, smart trivia, and the craft behind the sprint, this one hits every base.

Subscribe, leave a review, and share the episode with a friend who loves a great baseball story. Who’s your all-time favorite base stealer? We’d love to hear your pick.

Email us at fungosandfastballs@gmail.com

Transcript

The Story Behind The Name

Jerry 0:00

Thanks for joining us for our inaugural episode of Fungos and Fastballs. We'll be starting many podcasts with a first pitch, an entertaining shorter story or fun fact. I thought we might start this one with a first pitch about our podcast name. Seems appropriate. Some out there may wonder what exactly is a fungo, and why would one choose such an unusual word to put in the title of an eventually usually successful podcast? And well paid. Well, after a lot of thought, research, and consideration, we came up with a great name, 90 feet away, the distance between each base. Very catchy. I searched twice thoroughly, I thought, to see if it was being used. But clearly my search engine skills are not as awesome as my baseball trivia knowledge, because a month later I did a third search, and lo and behold, there had been a baseball podcast 90 feet away since 2024. I even corresponded with Coach Eric Holtz, a former Israeli national baseball manager. Super nice guy. After a hiatus, he'll be he'll be back with his podcast soon. I watched on YouTube. Something you should check it out. Of course, in the interim, my wonderful wife and producer, Brooke,

Brooke 1:17

hello,

Jerry 1:17

had hats and shirts made as a present.

Brooke 1:20

Yes, I did.

Jerry 1:21

So that wasn't great because now we have the wrong the wrong title on our merch.

Brooke 1:27

Yes, we do.

Jerry 1:28

But lesson learned research the hell out of your perspective podcast name. So it sent me back to the drawing board, and if you've ever had to come up with a name for a podcast, you may know basically every great name you came up with is inevitably taken. So I decided to choose a unique and wacky sounding name. For those who don't know the term, fungos. It even has fun in the name. It's a practice ball where batters toss the ball in the air and hit the ball on the way down. Those who have played baseball know about fungo bats used for those practice drills.

Brooke 2:03

So is a fungo the bat, or is it the actual ball that was hit?

Jerry 2:07

Yes. Fungo is the drill or the ball that was hit, and fungo bats are the bat.

Brooke 2:14

Got it.

Show Format And Mission

Jerry 2:14

You all know what fastballs are, I hope. So that's the story of our name. But as Shakespeare says, what's in a name? That which we call a rose by any name would smell as sweet. Hoping you'll really enjoy this new podcast. That was fun. Let's go.

Jerry 2:37

Hello and welcome to Fungos and Fastballs, the podcast of baseball history and trivia. I'm your host, Jerry Dynes, and each episode will be a 15-minute snapshot into America's pastime. Maybe it'll be a player, a tradition, a stadium, a rule, or some random fun aspect of the game. So let's get on to today's topic.

Jerry 3:01

The record for career stolen bases is held by Hall of Famer Ricky Henderson. But who held this record prior to Ricky and is currently number two on the list? Keep listening for this answer. Jerry here with my wife and producer Brooke. Hey. And I feel like I should give an introduction. Brooke, it's our first episode. I can give it an introduction, right? We have time for that?

Brooke 3:22

You only get one chance to do your first introduction, although we did record our first pitch, so wasn't that really our first introduction? Well, just go ahead.

Jerry 3:32

Yeah, but Brooke, you really never get another chance to introduce and potentially screw up your inaugural podcast. So what's this we're doing here today? Of course, there are tons of sports podcasts out there and baseball ones in particular, but less so shows focused on the long, over 150 year history of the sport. And yes, today, February 2nd, we are at 150 years exactly of the National League when the Senior Circuit was established. And me, your humble host here today, am I a former player, executive, journalist? Sure, I could wax nostalgic about my storied years in Little League. Maybe I will one day, hopefully not. No, like you, I'm a big fan and student of the game, and the kind of guy you don't want to play trivial pursuit with. Not because I might know the answer, but because I'm gonna add all these side stories and quote fun facts.

Brooke 4:30

Hey listener, just so you know, we do go and play trivia at least once a week. We're feared as a team, yet loved as people. Granted, Jerry will potentially bore you with tidbits about the name of the headless horse of the Godfather, or maybe about Kentucky Fried Chickens Colonel Sanders, who was actually

Jerry 4:52

a private when discharged from the military.

Brooke 4:54

See?

Lou Brock Enters The Spotlight

Jerry 4:55

Hey, I thought I was the trivia guy. Well, while a guy spouting out those facts would be a total bore at dinner parties. This is just the kind of guy you want running your baseball podcast. You want me on this podcast, you need me on this podcast. But I know you had other podcasts to listen to and certainly don't want to listen to me drone on for over an hour, so each episode really aims to be a 15 to 20 minute snapshot of something fun about America's pastime. We'll mix it up with each episode, jumping around to a different item or theme. Thanks for that. And now we continue with today's show. Well, today we do focus on the player who is number two on that career steals list, Hall of Famer Lou Brock. Memories of baseball can come from any number of experiences, but today I'm remembering back to grammar school before I even met Brooke, and the library in my school where I was a kid. And amidst the out-of-date science books and Hardy Boy mysteries was an old multi-volume 1970s sports encyclopedia. I tried to find that book on eBay, and sadly spending probably half the time of this episode's podcast research, but I just couldn't find it.

Brooke 6:07

You know, I looked too, I couldn't find it either.

Jerry 6:09

You don't know what it looks like. You didn't know me back then.

Brooke 6:12

I'm a good Google searcher.

Jerry 6:14

Well, yet ingrained in my brain, right there on the cover of this book, was an image of St. Louis Cardinal Lou Brock, seemingly ready to take a base. Hey, any listeners remember or know anything about this book, you can post in the comments or just reach out. Yeah, reach out. Well, growing up in New Jersey, I didn't get to see the Cardinals much, but the larger-than-life figures of that era seemed to span beyond regions outside of New York. I mean Hank Aaron, Pete Rose, Willie Stargil, Johnny Bench, and yes, Lou Brock.

Brooke 6:47

I recognize all those names, but not Lou Brock. You have me on the edge of my seat, so I'm excited to learn on this episode. So go ahead.

Jerry 6:55

Did your parents not let you watch baseball? You poor deprived child.

Brooke 6:58

Y eah, I didn't watch baseball at all.

Jerry 7:01

Well, Brock actually passed away somewhat recently in 2020 at age 81. Uh, and a little history. He was born in El Dorado, Arkansas back in 1939 to a family of cotton sharecroppers, moving to Louisiana at age two, and eventually attending Southern University here in Baton Rouge.

Brooke 7:20

Wait, right here in lovely Baton Rouge?

From Cubs Trade To Cardinals Legend

Jerry 7:23

Right here. He had an academic scholarship that, due to low grades, was in jeopardy. So he decided to try out for Southern's baseball team to get an athletic scholarship instead. And he would eventually win a championship with Southern, and then was selected to the U.S. team in the 1959 Pan American Games, before trying out first unsuccessfully for his future team, the Cardinals. But then he tried out for the Cubs and they signed him. And this would start a 19-year Hall of Fame career initially with Chicago, and then after a 1964 trade to the St. Louis Cardinals, where he'd stay until 1979, he would settle into left field, taking Stan Musiel's outfield position after Stan the Man's retirement a year earlier. How about that for your club having those two as successive outfielders? I had the pleasure of visiting Bush Stadium to see the Cardinals beat their rival Brewers just last season and took pictures right out front with statues of both Brock and Stan the Man.

Brooke 8:24

Actually, if you look at our Instagram and Facebook pages, you can see Jerry standing next to the statue.

Records, Steals, And World Series Feats

Jerry 8:31

Well, I have faith in you, Brooke, and your social media experience. Well, back to Brock's history. So the Cubs had traded him to the Cardinal for starter Ernie Broglie, who the season before had 18 wins. But he only lasted two more seasons and only seven more wins until his career ended in 1966. Back in 2015, ESPN ranked this as the worst midseason trade. Well, with the Cubs, Brock was just an okay hitter, and he really was not encouraged to steal bases, but in St. Louis manager Johnny Keene suggested Brock not just try to hit for the fences, but instead emphasized getting on base and focusing on some small ball base stealing. This is where Brock thrived, leading the National League eight times in steals. Now, the single season stolen base record at that time was Maury Wills, who in 1962 with 104 steals had broken Ty Cobb's 47-year-old record of 96. But in 1974, Brock would break that record, eventually with 118 stolen bases. Now I mentioned Ricky Henderson earlier. He would beat Brock's record and get to 130 in 1982. And that answers our Instagram post question if you're following. I just love the fun local stories about baseball. After Brock's passing, I read a tribute article from the radio station 101 ESPN St. Louis that talks about locally sold Brock's Bass Burglars 105 club t-shirts that were sold in St. Louis that year that Brock was trying to break Will's record.

Brooke 10:14

That should make a good post. Let me see if I can find that.

Jerry 10:17

Yeah, look on Ask Jeeves. Is that search engine still a round?

Brooke 10:22

Yes, I'll look on Ask Jeeves.

Jerry 10:24

This is why I need a producer. So Brock would help the Cardinals win three National League pennants in 1964, 67, and 1968, and win two World Series, first in 1964, his first year with the team, and in 1967. Now in the 1967, he had 414, scored eight runs, and set a World Series record of seven stolen bases in a series. He'd tie that record in the 1968 series, a record that still stands today.

Speaker 10:57

Listener, just so you know, my baseball knowledge is, well, let's just say it's it's limited. It's probably a 100. Is that even how you say it? But I certainly know that hitting 414 is amazing.

Personality, Brockabrella, And Lasting Impact

Jerry 11:13

Yes, he was an excellent hitter. He had six consecutive seasons, starting in 1969, each with over 190 hits. At the time of his retirement, he had a total of 3,023 hits, then 12th on the all-time list. In August 1977 versus the Padres, Brock broke Ty Cobb's career record of 892 stolen bases, a record that stood almost 50 years. And saying Brock broke is a tough time. I was thinking the exact same thing. So if you're keeping track, now we have Ricky Henderson at number one and Lou Brock number two. So, I mean Ty Cobb should be third on that list based on what we heard earlier. But no, Cobb is currently fourth on the list, not just behind Ricky and Lou, but also behind Billy Hamilton from the 1800s, not the 21st century Reds and Cubs speedster. But in the 1800s, stolen bases were calculated differently. A stolen base even counted if you reached an extra base on a base hit from another player. Modern stolen base rules weren't implemented until 1898. You know, later in his career, in 1979, Brock felt a bit snubbed when Red Sox outfielder carl yastrzemski was invited to the White House by Massachusetts Speaker of the House Tip O'Neill. You see, Yaz had reached 3,000 hits, a pretty important milestone. But Brock had also hit that milestone a month earlier and did not have an invite.

Brooke 12:47

Well, that's totally unfair.

Jerry 12:49

Well, President Jimmy Carter would write that wrong and he would invite Brock to the White House. Well, Lou would have a resurgence in his final season in 1979 with a 304 average achieving comeback player of the year at age 40. The Cardinals would retire number 20 in honor of Brock in 1979. He finished up a six-time All-Star and would be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1985 on the first ballot. With 75% needed, Brock got 79.7% of the votes.

Brooke 13:22

You know, I I think you could have rounded that to 80 for this podcast.

Jerry 13:27

Baseball trivia, guys are specifically.

Brooke 13:29

You're right. You're right. Numbers matter.

Jerry 13:32

Interviews with Brock show him to be a fun, vibrant personality. I love the story of how Brock, a left-handed hitter, decided to take at age 37 in 1976 his first and only major league at bat as a righty. Brock also would do a little advertising, endorsing a red and white novelty umbrella hat called the Brock Abrella.

Brooke 13:56

Hey, listener, check out our Instagram for a photo.

Jerry 13:59

Well, trivia alert, Brock's hat was marketed then by the father of actor Billy Cruddup, who you may know from TV's morning show and films like Mission Impossible 3 and from his marriage to Naomi Watts.

Brooke 14:12

You're going a little deep here. Get back on track.

Jerry 14:15

But I love the story of Brock's kind personality too. Like the one by sports reporter Tim Kirchin after Brock's passing, sharing a story of Lou taking the time to speak with Kirchin's 10-year-old son. Brock would tell the boy, quote, You have a great smile. Let everyone see it. A great smile can disarm people like nothing else. Smile as much as you can. We don't smile enough in the world today. So is it any wonder with Brock's talent, reputation, and personality, that he landed on the cover of a sports encyclopedia and cemented the admiration of a young fan from Jersey back in the day?

Brooke 14:57

Well, I just want to say thanks, Jerry. I really enjoyed learning about Lou.

Jerry 15:01

Lou? Are you guys on a first name basis?

Brooke 15:04

Well, I feel like I know him now.

Thank Yous And Subscribe Request

Jerry 15:06

Well, just don't mix him up with Gehrig Reed or Farig now.

Brooke 15:10

Oh, yeah, Lou Gehrig, baseball player. Lou Reed and oh hey, they weren't baseball players, but I bet they did take walks on the wild side in a hulking way.

Jerry 15:22

Ooh, I don't want to end there. Well, why don't we end with a thanks to all those who are joining us today? And thanks especially to my dry cleaner Billy, who's listening. I hope you'll keep listening, and don't forget to like us and subscribe to the show on your podcast platform. Heading back to the locker room, this is Jerry Dynes at Fungos and Fastballs.