NOTABLE ARKANSANS

Notable Arkansans

He was born in 1939, in El Dorado, the seventh of nine children of a farm laborer. When he was 2, his father left home, and his mother, a housekeeper, moved the family to nearby Collinston, La., where he grew up in poverty. By his own account, he never felt poor because "if you don't have something, you don't miss it."

He graduated from high school and received an academic scholarship to Southern University in Baton Rouge. During his first semester, his grades were so poor he lost his scholarship. He tried out for the school baseball team and, even though he had very little experience, so impressed the coach he was offered an athletic scholarship. His freshman year, however, was unimpressive, with only a .151 batting average and poor fielding; his second year was much better, with a .545 batting average, and he was selected to play in the 1959 Pan-American games in Chicago. He tried out for the Chicago Cubs in 1960, making the team.

In 1964, he was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals and became a prolific base stealer, leading the National League in stolen bases in 1966. He helped the Cardinals win the World Series in 1967 by stealing seven bases during the series. On Aug. 29, 1977, he got his 893rd career stolen base, breaking legendary Ty Cobb's longstanding record. He played two more seasons, finishing with 938 career stolen bases — a record that stood until 1991. He became the first active player to have an award named for him when, in 1979, the National League announced that the award presented to the annual stolen base leader would be named in his honor.

After a 19-year major league career, he retired in 1979 at the age of 40. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1985, his first year of eligibility.

He founded the Endowment Scholarship Fund at Southern University, providing scholarships for low-income students. He received the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans Award in 2002.

In 2015, due to a diabetic condition, his left leg was amputated below the knee. He died in September 2020 at the age of 81.

Who was this baseball Hall of Famer who, in 1998, was ranked by The Sporting News in its Baseball's 100 Greatest Players at number 58?

See Notable Arkansans — Answer

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