Gibson, Brock Back In Camp With Cardinals Hall Of Famers Give Advice To Players Who Care To Learn

Almost two decades after Lou Brock stole the last of his 938 bases and 23 years after Bob Gibson threw his last fastball, the two St. Louis Cardinals greats are suiting up with nothing in particular to do during spring training.

Nothing, that is, except be themselves and perhaps remind the current roster of the franchise’s proud history.

“Just their presence in camp, I think it’s a connection to the past,” general manager Walt Jocketty said. “Hopefully, guys can relate to what these guys did and how important they are to this organization.

“These guys were some of the best in the history of the game.”

The 62-year-old Gibson was one of the most dominating and intimidating pitchers of all time, with 251 victories and more than 3,000 strikeouts from 1959-75. And he still says he’d plunk his grandmother if she crowded the plate.

Gibson is a walking storehouse of knowledge largely untapped by today’s pitchers. He doesn’t want to undermine pitching coach Dave Duncan, so he hangs around a lot, visits with media, talks to fans and waits for any players to come to him for advice.

The 58-year-old Brock, who like Gibson has been a special instructor with the team for three seasons, also offers his wisdom.

“I really don’t work with any of them, I’m just available,” said Brock, baseball’s career stolen-base champion before Rickey Henderson broke the record.

“They see your name and number and it’s symbolic of what they want to do. It’s what we did.”

But there are the stretches of nothingness where it must cross the minds of these proud men that getting suited up is an exercise in foolishness.

“Does it get boring? It gets real boring,” Gibson said with a shrug. “But that’s what I get paid to do.”

Kent Mercker, a pitcher who has no trouble appreciating baseball history, is one player who went to Gibson for advice. Mercker said he’ll always remember one day when he was with Atlanta and had a casual conversation with an aging batting practice pitcher who turned out to be Sandy Koufax.

“I’m like, ‘That guy looks familiar. Was he a coach in the Braves’ system or something?”’ Mercker said. “He walked away and I saw ‘FAX’ on the back of his jersey. I say to myself: ‘You idiot!’ Will you sign my ice bag?”

In the early ‘90s, Brock conducted baserunning seminars for the Cardinals and has also worked with the Montreal Expos, Los Angeles Dodgers and Minnesota Twins - all of which increased their stolen-base total.

This gig is different.

“Here, it’s more one-on-one with guys like Vince Coleman,” Brock said. “Here’s a guy 36 years old and with blinding speed, but he may have doubts about it. Well, I’m a living example of what speed could be at 35-36 years of age, considering I stole 118 bases. That renews his confidence.”

So far, younger players haven’t asked Brock for much. He said he’s given a few pointers to minor-league shortstop Luis Ordaz. Current shortstop and leadoff hitter, Royce Clayton, gets his information secondhand, leaning more on Coleman for ideas.

As for Gibson, he said he’s had a few successes in spring training so far. One involves young right-hander Matt Morris, who wanted his four-seam fastball to sail wide instead of drift over the plate.

Gibson told Morris his arm movement was just a bit too high, and two days later Morris reported back that the adjustment had done the trick.