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Sept. 6 (UPI) -- St. Louis Cardinals icon and Hall of Famer Lou Brock, who helped guide the club to two World Series titles in the 1960s, has died at 81. The Cardinals and Chicago Cubs held a moment of silence in honor of Brock before their game Sunday at Wrigley Field.
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No cause of death was provided, but Brock lost a leg from diabetes in 2015 and began receiving treatment for multiple myeloma -- a type of blood cancer -- in 2017.
"Lou was the happiest Hall of Fame member I've ever known. His wonderful life simply could not be duplicated," Dick Zitzmann, Brock's longtime agent and friend, said in a statement Sunday. "A warm, humble and gentle man. He will be missed by all."
Brock -- nicknamed the "Running Redbird" and the "Base Burglar" -- retired from baseball in 1979 as the single-season and all-time leader in stole bases -- records later broken by Rickey Henderson. The Cardinals left fielder was elected into the Hall of Fame in 1985.
The Arkansas native stole 938 bases in his MLB career, including a then-record 118 in the 1974 season. He surpassed Ty Cobb for the all-time stolen bases mark in 1977.
In 2,616 career games with the Cardinals and Cubs, Brock had a .293 batting average with 149 home runs, 900 RBIs and 3,023 hits. He was a six-time All-Star selection, led the National League in stolen bases eight times and won the Roberto Clemente Award in 1975.
Brock's death came less than a week after former New York Mets pitcher and Hall of Famer Tom Seaver died Monday. Seaver died from complications of Lewy body dementia and COVID-19.
