Adam Wainwright shares an amazing Lou Brock story

Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright remembers meeting Lou Brock for the first time

It was 2004. Adam Wainwright was a tall, 22-year-old right-handed pitcher, a top-50 prospect who had never pitched above Double-A. A few months earlier, he had been dealt to the St. Louis Cardinals by the Atlanta Braves in a deal for J.D. Drew.

Lou Brock, meanwhile, was 64 and already a baseball legend. A member of the 3,000 hit club, he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1985. The two men, from different generations and worlds apart in terms of accomplishment on the baseball field, came together in the Cardinals clubhouse in Spring Training. Wainwright, the unproven youngster, should’ve been in awe of Brock. Instead, it was Brock who made Wainwright feel right at home in the organization.

When Brock asked him for his autograph, Wainwright was awestruck. “I say, ‘Hi. Mr. Brock…I think you have that backwards,” Wainwright recalled on social media Monday after hearing that Brock had passed away at the age of 81. “He responds, ‘No I don’t. You’re going to be special and I want your autograph.”

Sixteen years later, Wainwright is still pitching for the Cardinals and an icon of the club in his own right. Brock is second in Cardinals history to Stan Musial in both games played and hits. He batted .391 in 21 World Series games. When he retired, Brock was the all-time leader in stolen bases. But, following his death on Sunday, it was his kindness off the field that teammates and members of the Cardinals organization, from Albert Pujols and Ozzie Smith to Tony La Russa, chose to remember instead of what he did on it.

Cardinals legends honored Lou Brock

Wainwright is one of them. “Lou always amazed me with how cool and calm and professional he was at all times. He was one of the best encouragers I’ve ever met. He was one of the main ones setting the example for all the Cardinals who came after him in how to play and how to live,” Wainwright wrote.

“I will forever be grateful for the times I got to listen to Mr. Lou tell stories in that smooth voice he had. RIP Mr. Lou…we love you and will miss you.”

Brock has become so synonymous with the Cardinals organization that it’s easy to forget his acquisition was widely criticized at the time. The Cardinals gave up Ernie Broglio, an established starting pitcher who led the club in wins in 1963, to get Brock in a trade with the Chicago Cubs in June 1964. It was thought at the time, even in the Cardinals clubhouse, that they had given up too much. Broglio would win just seven games in parts of three seasons with the Cubs. Brock became a Cardinals legend.

The Cardinals and Cubs, the two teams he played for in his career, paid tribute to him with a moment of silence on Sunday night before their game at Wrigley Field. His memory was on the thoughts of the entire Cardinals organization, including a pitcher who was a fresh-faced youngster when he first encountered Brock but will one day have his number hang alongside Brock’s in Busch Stadium.