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Longtime Cardinals star, Hall of Famer Lou Brock dies at 81

Hall of Famer and longtime St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Lou Brock died on Sunday afternoon after a lengthy battle with numerous medical issues, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

He was 81.

Brock was diagnosed with cancer in 2017 and had lost a leg to diabetes in recent years, according to the Associated Press. The specific cause of his death is unclear.

St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Famer Lou Brock

“Over my 25-plus years of being his agent, he was perhaps the happiest Hall of Famer I’ve ever encountered,” Brock’s agent Dick Zitzmann said, via the Associated Press.

“I think he led a life that will never be duplicated.”

Kobe Bryant, Don Shula and all of the sports figures we've lost in 2020.
Kobe Bryant, Don Shula and all of the sports figures we've lost in 2020.

Hall of Famer Lou Brock dies at 81

Brock played in the league for 19 seasons from 1961-79, the majority of which was spent in St. Louis. Brock spent his first three seasons with the Chicago Cubs, but was traded to St. Louis midway through the 1964 season when he was 24.

That’s when his career took off. Brock hit .348 through the rest of that season and helped lead the Cardinals to a World Series win against the New York Yankees — the team’s first in nearly 20 years.

He finished his career with 3,023 hits, more than 1,600 runs and 938 stolen bases — the second-most in MLB history behind Rickey Henderson. Brock led the Cardinals to another World Series win three years later in 1967, when they beat the Boston Red Sox. They reached the game the following season, too, but fell to the Detroit Tigers.

He was elected into the Hall of Fame in 1985.

The Cubs and Cardinals held a moment of silence for Brock ahead of their matchup on Sunday at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

Lou Brock of the St. Louis Cardinals
Lou Brock of the St. Louis Cardinals poses before a MLB game at Wrigley Field in Chicago, Illinois. Brock played for the St Louis Cardinals from 1964-79. (Ron Vesely/Getty Images)

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