Senior first baseman swings a big bat

[dneuner]

Senior first baseman swings a big bat

By: Derrick Neuner

Danny Brock has always loved the game of baseball. The senior first baseman for the Saint Louis University Billikens dabbled in other sports, like basketball (“I’m not tall enough”) and golf, but somehow found his way back to the diamond each spring. For Brock, baseball was more than just a game; it’s part of the family legacy.

In 1982, Greg Brock made his major league debut for the Los Angeles Dodgers as a first baseman. He’d play that position for ten years, five for the Dodgers and five for the Milwaukee Brewers. He finished his career batting .310 with 110 home runs and 462 RBIs.

“I grew up around the game,” Brock said. “I chose baseball because it's what I wanted to do more than anything.”

And in his second year with the Billikens (19-19, 7-5), Brock is doing it well. He’s batting .378 and has 53 RBIs; his RBI total leads the Atlantic 10 Conference and his homerun total, 13, is good for second. That’s a stark contrast to last season when he hit just two balls over the wall and drove in drove in a measly 38 runs.

“I’m seeing the ball well … I started the season well, and it's still rolling over,” Brock said. “I’m trying to win games. I’ve gotten smarter, understand the pitching better. I went to a tough summer league, and that helped me a lot.”

It’s also caught the eye of major league scouts.

The Loveland, Colo. native came to SLU after playing two years for Northeastern Colorado Community College. His role there was similar to the one here: rebuild a struggling ballclub into a perennial contender. Though NECC is still in the building process, Brock did his part. The first-base man was a two-time All-Region and All-Conference selection and led the team in batting average. He came to SLU with all the right reasons.

“I liked the situation, wanted to get away from home a little bit, and it’s worked out well for me,” Brock said. “I knew when I came here that it was a building program. I came here with the idea that when I left here, the program would be better off.”

It’s well on its way.

He also wins praise from his coach, Darin Hendrickson. “He has a great baseball IQ and has instincts that you can’t teach. College athletics needs to get more kids like him, tough guys, who play the game every inning.

“He has been instrumental in turning our club around and being a cornerstone of that turnaround by leading on the field and putting up numbers like only a few others in SLU history,” the skipper adds.”

In the last two years, SLU baseball posted a 30-win season, just the fourth time since 1972 that the Billikens finished above .500. Included in that 30-win season was a marquee win over then-No.11 Ole Miss. This season, they have two wins against the then-No. 2 Kansas Jayhawks. Wins like those, Brock says, makes it fun to be a Billiken.

“We go into those games with a lot of anticipation, you know, we want to see those types of teams. And when you beat them, you know you’re building in the right direction.

“You see guys are growing and our team is growing with them. I think if we can get into the A-10 tournament, we have a shot at going somewhere.”

Playing first base, being both a defensive and offensive threat, and playing in St. Louis brings a quick comparison. Yes, Brock often gets asked about St. Louis Cardinal Albert Pujols.

“He's an idol; it's tough to compare to that,” the Billikens first base man says. “He changes the way everybody plays. You can learn a lot by watching him.”

But Brock can do one thing Pujols doesn’t: throw from the mound. While at NECC, he did not allow an earned run in 11-2/3 innings and went 2-0 while picked up four saves. So if the Billikens were to log 20 innings, as did the Cardinals on Sat., April 17?

Brock laughs, “If we get to that 20th inning, I'll be there.”

http://www.unewsonline.com/?p=12150

[lefty]

Senior first baseman swings a big bat

By: Derrick Neuner

http://www.unewsonline.com/?p=12150

You might want to check Kansas' ranking when you played them. The SLU article at the time of the games said they were ranked 19th at the time not 2nd.

[b.hayes]

DBrock is a stud.