John Roy Brock (October 16, 1896 – October 27, 1951) was an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

player. He played parts of two seasons, 1917 and 1918, in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

, primarily as a

catcher Catcher is a Baseball positions, position in baseball and softball. When a Batter (baseball), batter takes their at bat, turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home plate, home) Umpire (baseball), umpire, and recei ...

. Listed at , 165 lb, Brock batted and threw right-handed. He was born in

Hamilton, Illinois Hamilton is a city in Hancock County, Illinois, United States. The population was 2,951 at the 2010 census, a decline from 3,029 in 2000. The city is located directly across the Mississippi River from Keokuk, Iowa. Hamilton is the largest city in ...

. After playing minor league baseball in 1916, Brock entered the majors in 1917 with the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

, appearing for them in seven games while hitting a .400 average (6-for-15). Back in 1918, he hit .212 in 27 games as the third-string catcher behind Mike González and

Frank Snyder Frank Elton Snyder (May 27, 1895 – January 5, 1962), was an American professional baseball, professional baseball player and coach (baseball), coach. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher from 1912 to 1927 for the New York Giants (NL ...

. In a two-season career, Brock batted .254 (17-for-67) with three doubles and seven

stolen base In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base to which they are not entitled and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or ...

s, driving in six runs while

scoring Score or scorer may refer to: *Test score, the result of an exam or test Business * Score Digital, now part of Bauer Radio * Score Entertainment, a former American trading card design and manufacturing company * Score Media, a former Canadian m ...

13 times. Brock played 13 minor league seasons between 1916 and 1930, most prominently for the

Atlanta Crackers The Atlanta Crackers were Minor League Baseball teams based in Atlanta, Georgia, between 1901 and 1965. The Crackers were Atlanta's home team until the Atlanta Braves moved from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1966. History Atlanta played its first ...

(1923–28), compiling a .256 average in 1310 games. He also managed in the

Piedmont it, Piemontese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

and Cotton States leagues in his last baseball season.Baseball Reference – Minor league statistics
/ref> Brock died in

Clayton, Missouri Clayton is a city in and the seat of St. Louis County, Missouri. It borders the independent city of St. Louis. The population was 17,355 at the 2020 census. Organized in 1877, the city was named after Ralph Clayton, who donated the land for the ...

, at the age of 55.

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brock, John Major League Baseball catchers St. Louis Cardinals players Muskogee Mets players Little Rock Travelers players Dallas Marines players Kansas City Blues (baseball) players San Antonio Bears players Atlanta Crackers players Chattanooga Lookouts players Vicksburg Hill Billies players Winston-Salem Twins players Minor league baseball managers Baseball players from Illinois 1896 births 1951 deaths People from Hamilton, Illinois