Lou Brock

Following high school, Brock decided he needed a college education in order to leave behind the sharecropper's life. The family didn't have a phone, which prevented Brock from calling any colleges, so he took matters into his own hands and caught a ride to Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, because he had heard that the college offered a work-study scholarship program.

School officials were so impressed by Brock's determination that they found a job for him mowing grass and offered him a work-study scholarship. The deal, however, stipulated that Brock maintain a B average. Brock ended his first semester with a C+ average and was booted from the work-study program.

Not wanting to return home a failure, Brock decided to try out for the baseball team. For days, he parked himself in the bleachers and watched the Southern University team practice. "I sat there scared to death," Brock recalled to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "The players paraded in front of me with muscles. They looked like athletes. I wasn't sure I belonged on the field with them."

Finally, Brock joined the players on the diamond and spent several days chasing fly balls, running as fast as he could, hoping the coach would notice him. Because Brock was broke at this time, he couldn't afford to eat properly and collapsed on the field one day.

Passing out got Brock noticed, and in the spirit of goodwill, the coach decided to let him bat a few balls. Brock realized he had just a few minutes—just a few pitches—to prove himself. "I told myself, 'This is it. This is the moment,'" he recalled to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "'Either you hit this ball and stay or miss it and be gone.'" Brock impressed the coach by hitting several pitches out of the park. He was offered an athletic scholarship and was able to continue his college education.

During Brock's sophomore season, he received the attention of some scouts when they came to observe Wiley College pitcher Johnny Berry. Brock's team was playing Wiley's team at the time. During the game, Berry gave up only two hits-both homers to Brock.

That same season, Brock hit .545. With Brock in the lineup, Southern College become the first black college to win the baseball championship of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletes.

In 1959, Brock was selected to play on the U.S. baseball team at the Pan-American Games in Chicago. During the games, Brock befriended a runner named Charles Deacon Jones, who helped Brock improve his speed by offering a few lessons in technique. A few years later, after Brock joined the Cubs, the two worked out together in Chicago as Jones continued helping Brock improve his form.