Hall of Fame baseball player Lou Brock died on Sunday, September 7, 2020. He was 81 years old.

Brock was an important leadoff hitter and base stealer for the St. Louis Cardinals and the team won three pennants and two World Series in the 1960s with Brock on the roster. When he retired in ’79, the leftfielder was the single season and all-time leader in stolen bases. Brock was welcomed to the Hall of Fame in ’85.

Brock was born on June 18, 1939 in El Dorado, Arkansas. He didn’t start playing baseball until 11th grade, but his natural talent propelled him into an athletic scholarship at Southern University in Baton Rouge. In 1960 he tried out for the Chicago Cubs and was signed to an amateur free agent contract. Brock’s professional career began a year later with the Cubs, then in ’64 he was traded to the Cardinals where his career took off.

“Lou Brock was one of the most revered members of the St. Louis Cardinals organization and one of the very best to ever wear the Birds on the Bat,” Cardinals chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. said in a news release.