Cardinals-Cubs hold moment of silence for Lou Brock (Photo)

The St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs honor the late Lou Brock Sunday.

A moment of silence was held out of respect of Lou Brock‘s passing on Sunday.

The National Baseball Hall of Fame outfielder played 19 seasons in the MLB. He began his career as a member of the Chicago Cubs in 1961 before being traded to the arch rival St. Louis Cardinals. It would be in St. Louis where Brock was a six-time NL All-Star, a two-time World Series champion and an eight-time NL stolen base leader. A first-ballot hall of famer, Brock was 81 years old.

Lou Brock was one of baseball’s greatest base stealers and leadoff hitters

Prior to Rickey Henderson, Brock was Rickey Henderson. Both men earned enshrinement in the National Baseball Hall of Fame for being eerily similar players. While Henderson bounced around the league, Brock only played for two NL franchises in his illustrious career. Fate would have these rivals would play on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball the day of his passing.

Brock played his last game for the Redbirds in 1979, the same year surpassed the 3,000 career hits threshold. He finished with a career .293 batting average, 3,023 hits, 149 home runs, 900 runs batted in and 938 stolen bases. The 1975 Roberto Clemente Award winner went into Cooperstown on the first ballot in 1985. His No. 20 has been retired by the Cardinals organization.

2020 has been a rough year for all of us, and especially baseball legends. Earlier this week, 300-game winner and New York Mets legend Tom Seaver passed away. While Seaver is the greatest players in the history of The Amazin’s, it’s pretty remarkable that Brock is right up there with all the Cardinals greats such as Stan Musial, Bob Gibson, Rogers Hornsby and Ozzie Smith.

When we think of dynamic and impactful leadoff hitters who changed the game, Brock is among the very best. His foot speed and ability to hit for a high average became a total game-changer. While he never played for Whitey Herzog in St. Louis, Brock would have fit right in with the “Whiteyball” era of Cardinals baseball as the prototypical leadoff man of his era.

There’s a reason Brock’s game was so well-respected because so few players were like him.