Lou Brock Breaks Ty Cobb's All-Time Stolen Base Record

On August 29, 1977, Lou Brock of the St. Louis Cardinals stole his 893rd career base, breaking Ty Cobb's all-time record that had stood for 49 years. The historic steal came during a game against the San Diego Padres at San Diego Stadium. Brock swiped both his 892nd and 893rd bases that night, tying and then surpassing Cobb in a single game.

Brock was 38 years old and in his sixteenth season with the Cardinals. He had been one of baseball's most dynamic baserunners since arriving in St. Louis in a 1964 trade from the Cubs, a deal widely regarded as one of the most lopsided in history. The Cubs got pitcher Ernie Broglio. The Cardinals got a player who would help them win two World Series and redefine the stolen base as an offensive weapon.

Brock had set the single-season stolen base record with 118 in 1974, a mark that stood until Rickey Henderson swiped 130 in 1982. The career record was the bigger prize. Cobb had retired in 1928 with 892 stolen bases, a number that seemed permanent. But Brock had been accumulating steals at a consistent pace for more than a decade, and by the summer of 1977, the record was within reach.

The Padres won the game 4-3, but the result barely registered. The crowd of 19,656 stood and applauded as Brock took his place in history. The Cardinals had traveled west knowing the record was close, and Brock delivered in front of a California crowd rather than the home fans in St. Louis.

Brock retired after the 1979 season with 938 career stolen bases. Henderson eventually passed him in 1991, finishing with 1,406. Later research suggested that Cobb's actual stolen base total may have been slightly higher than 892, with four steals from 1907 and one from 1921 potentially missing from the original count. Regardless of the bookkeeping, August 29, 1977, was the night the baseball world acknowledged a new king of the basepaths.