Best Trades - Ernie Broglio for Lou Brock

It is considered the better trade to beat all better trades. In 1964 the St. Louis Cardinals shipped pitcher Ernie Broglio to the Chicago Cubs for Lou Brock. A lame-armed, ugly starting pitcher for the guy who turned out to be baseball's all-time stolen base king? The Cardinals truly made the better trade for the ages.

Brock only had limited success in Chicago. His hitting was so-so (only .257 in four years) and his fielding was awful (23 errors). But he had the sort of speed that couldn't be taught. During his time with the Cubs he had stolen 50 bases, an aspect of the game which interested St. Louis general manager Bing Devine.

Brock was a different player after putting on a St. Louis uniform. In the final 103 games of the 1964 season he batted .348 and stole 44 bases as the starting left fielder. He was good enough to finish 10th in the MVP voting in the National League. He helped St. Louis win the NL title and beat the New York Yankees in the World Series.

That was just a foretaste of what Brock was going to do for the Cardinals for the next 16 years. He was the quintessential leadoff man and showed an uncanny ability to get on base and cause havoc on the paths. He helped the Cards win the pennant in 1967 and 1968 and beat the Boston Red Sox in the 1967 World Series.

Brock played for the Cardinals until he was 40, retiring after the 1979 season. His skills remained sharp to the end; he batted .304 with 21 steals his final season. In his 16 years with the Cardinals he batted .297 with 888 stolen bases. His better trades ability to disrupt the other team's pitching staff cannot be measured.

He won the 1967 Babe Ruth Award, the 1974 Major League Player of the Year Award, the 1975 Roberto Clemente Award, the 1977 Lou Gehrig Memorial Award and the 1979 Hutch Award. His No. 20 was retired by the Cardinals in 1979 and a statue in his honor can be found outside Busch Stadium.

Broglio wound up with arm trouble after he landed in Chicago. (Cub fans may see a trend developing here.) In three-plus seasons with the Cubs, Broglio was 7-19 with a 5.40 ERA. He never pitched more than 100 innings with the Cubs, negating any benefit the team may have had in mind while concocting the better trade. He retired after the 1966 season after failing to live up to the 21-win campaign of his sophomore season in 1960.

Brock was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1985, a first-ballot selection. He went into Cooperstown that summer alongside Enos Slaughter, Arky Vaughan and Hoyt Wilhelm. His legacy will not be forgotten, and neither will the better trade that brought him to St. Louis.