I was tempted to label this, "My best cards 20". Lou Brock, my favorite player as I grew up, wore number 20 on his Cardinal uniform. He was the best base-stealer of his day, holding both the season and career base stealing records when he retired in 1979. An excellent hitter, he was, if memory serves, the eleventh player in history to collect 3000 hits. As of this post only 23 players in the history of major league baseball have more career hits than Lou Brock.
Brock was acquired from the Chicago Cubs in June of 1964, in exchange for a pitcher named Ernie Broglio. This is sometimes referred to as one of the worst deals in baseball history. Broglio had a lackluster career, while Brock went on to the Hall of Fame. In fairness, Broglio had been an All Star and the Cubs thought they were getting some help with the pennant drive in exchange for the promising young outfielder.
As it turned out, the Cardinals got the help they needed to drive to the pennant in 1964, with Brock hitting over .400 after the deal in mid-June. And Brock helped the Cardinals to two more pennants later on.
The card is from 1964, in fact, printed before the season while Brock was still a Cubbie. One of the reasons it's one of my favorites.
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