I am not sure I have encountered a Major League Hall Of Famer that can work a crowd and a room better than Lou Brock.

Over All Star Weekend, I took the opportunity Sunday morning to attend FanFest at Bartle Hall in Kansas City.  The highlight of the schedule, for me, was question and answer sessions with two Hall Of Famers, Andre Dawson and Lou Brock.  The sessions were each 30 minutes long and open to anyone in attendance that wanted to come in and listen.

Dawson was one of my father’s favorite players and a Hall Of Famer that I can attest to having seen play myself.  ”The Hawk” was frank, answered many questions, and was straight forward and candid with his responses.  It was a legitimate look at baseball north of the border, on astroturf, and throughout baseball.  It was not until after Dawson spoke and Brock took center stage that I realized the stark differences.

Lou came into the room to the obvious chants of “Lou” that resounded like boos from the crowd.  He smiled and waved, took his seat and handled questions from the interviewer and then from the crowd.  One fan preceded his question by telling Brock that his son was named Lou after the great basestealer.  The fan’s young son, who was maybe twelve, was with him and Brock invited his namesake to come stand next to him while he answered the young man’s father’s question.  He talked with the young man like he was answering the question just for him, played him up to the crowd for another loud “Lou” response, and sent a family home with a memory they will never forget.

Lou told stories and gave technical advice on base running.  He explained how he got jumps off of pitchers and how he taught young ball players to square up quickly.

He was asked near the end of his interview to compare current Cardinal catcher Yadier Molina to someone from his era.

“Johnny Bench.  The way that Yadi has learned to hit the ball at this point in his career, Johnny Bench is a completely fair comparison.”

One fan asked about Lou’s first All Star Game, his thoughts and memories from that game.  Lou responded (paraphrased):

I arrived early because I did not want to be seen as “big time”.  The last thing I wanted was to arrive when Willie Mays was arriving, I was young and did not want to show disrespect.  The game started at 3:00 p.m., so I got to the stadium at about 9 a.m. that morning.  I was the only one in the clubhouse except the young man clubhouse attendant they had there.  I decided, being an All Star, that I could be a little “big time” and I beckoned the kid over and asked him if he would go get me a Coca-Cola.  The young man returned with my Coca-Cola and then introduced himself, “Hi, I’m Tom Seaver”.  He made me pay for that Coke for about 14 seasons.

The crowd, of course, was eating out of Brock’s hands by this point and Brock went on to share personal stories of his friend, mentor, roommate and father figure, Buck O’Neil.  The stories showed a personal side to a relationship that started between a scout and player.  They showed an emotion that I was unaware of.  The demonstrated a bond that was stronger than most knew.  It was touching, funny and engaging.

Another fan marveled at Brock’s base stealing ability and remembered a game that he was in attendance for that Lou Brock stole home.  He asked Lou if he could recall how many times he achieved the feat of stealing home in his career.  Lou’s response did not disappoint.

Once.  I stole home exactly one time in my career.  The lineup that we had was full of guys that were paid to drive in runs.  Once I stole a base and put myself into scoring position, they would yell out at me “STAY THERE”.  While it was a joke sometimes, the one hard fast rule I was given was not to steal home so the guys behind me could continue to drive in runs.

Finally, Brock was asked about pitchers he once faced and what he thought of all of them.  The key to the question was the wording which contained “who did you see the ball well against.”  Brock, deliberate in his delivery, dropped a few names and then gave us a great quote:

“I saw the ball out of Koufax’s hand very well.  Never hit it, though.”

Listening to a player of Brock’s caliber talk about life and baseball made 30 minutes seem like mere seconds.  It was the highlight of a very full Sunday for me and an opportunity I suggest no one ever pass up on.  FanFest gave us all the opportunity to make a personal connection with larger than life figures, and it’s an opportunity I will never forget.

Incoming Players/Former Team:

Sean O’Sullivan/Angels
The Royals needed a starter. If front office believed they were in contention at the All-Star break, like Coach Yost did, they would have pursued Roy Oswalt or Cliff Lee. He has not proven to be a part of the solution to the Royals rotation problems; instead he has allowed eight earned runs in eleven innings pitched. Both Oswalt and Lee are solid veterans with post-season experience. O’Sullivan is nil in both categories. Since Lee was traded, he has pitched three complete games and the other start he went 8.1 innings. Oswalt is having an off year due to a sickness called lackofrunsupportitis, but his career winning percentage is still .633. Grade: F

George Blanco/Braves
The Royals needed an outfielder to replace the departure of Podsednik, Ankiel, and the currently injured DeJesus. Filling in with utility players and backups is not the making of a championship caliber team. Blanco, in his limited action has had success this season. His average in the national league was .310 in thirty-six games. Grade: C

Jesse Chavez/Braves
He’s young and is capable of going for more than one inning when required. However, he has not been nearly as effective as the man he was traded for (Farnsworth). He is young and energetic. Maybe some of Soria’s success will rub off on him and the rest of the bullpen. It certainly helped Farnsworth out. However, it is my opinion that the Royals should have kept Farnsworth who has proven to be a solid reliever. Grade: D

Key Players leaving/ New Team:

Rick Ankiel/ Braves
Injuries and inconsistencies led to his early departure. The Braves are looking to improve for their post-season push. The Royals thought they were getting at least an average player when they brought him in; disappointment is the best way to describe his performance while wearing blue and white. Grade: B

Scott Podsednik/Dodgers
This is the biggest mistake they made. He was the best player the Royals traded away, period. He is an All-Star caliber talent in the outfield with speed that the Dodgers wanted to replace the turtle-like Ramirez. As mentioned in one of my previous articles, if he would have stayed the Royals would have had the makings of a solid offensive core. Grade: F

Alberto Callaspo/ Angels
Because of his lack of production on both sides of the ball and the fact that the Royals needed a pitcher in their rotation that can give them solid innings (with Gil Meche not making progress towards pitching for the rest of the season). If he was not traded now he would have been cut due to the costly errors he has made during the season. Grade: B

Kyle Farnsworth/Braves
This was expected to happen but instead of keeping the bullpen somewhat solid in Kansas City, the Braves will now have the benefit of one of the best setup/relievers in the league this season. If the Royals bullpen had been just he and Soria the Royals might be in at least wildcard contention. Grade: F

The Royals did trade for some “prospects” some of these players do have some potential but if the coach wanted to contend and win this season the front office should have backed him up by pursuing top tier players on the trading block. They did give Coach Yost a two year contract however for his “success” so far this season. A very poor consolation prize if you ask me. A good coach, one that I believe we have now, would have rather had a chance to compete for a title than a nice contract. We will never know what kind of success he could have had if they would have given him some more solid pitching and gotten rid of all of the negative influences. Jose Guillen and Ankiel for a Lee or Oswalt would have been acceptable. Throw in a top prospect or two. But that’s because I believe winning is the bottom line in this game, not the profit margin.

Our editor on this site has a famous quote from the movie Field of Dreams on his signature line on the messages he sends us:.

“Man, I did love this game. I’d have played for food money. It was the game… The sounds, the smells. Did you ever hold a ball or a glove to your face? … I used to love traveling on the trains from town to town. The hotels, brass spittoons in the lobbies, brass beds in the rooms. It was the crowd, rising to their feet when the ball was hit deep. Shoot, I’d play for nothing.”

Joe Jackson may not have said those exact words in real life. But he did say this:

“When I was up there at the plate, my purpose was to get on base anyway I could, whether by hitting or by getting hit.”

He wanted to win no matter the personal cost or injury. That’s the kind of players the Royals need. Those are the players they didn’t pursue. You don’t need an all-star team to win, just a team of players who are willing to win by exerting maximum effort every single inning. Overall GPA/grade: 1.29 (D)