During his first three years with the Cubs, outfielder and solid prospect Corey Patterson was being compared to another prospect the Cubs once had, Hall-of-Fame outfielder Lou Brock. Here are their statistics through age 24. (Interestingly, both players were born in September, within seven calendar days, so their ages during the comparable seasons were nearly identical):

Through Age 24

Quite close, with an edge to Patterson's better home run power, though Brock developed more power later on.

What's happened since? Patterson's 2004 season at age 25 (.266 with 32 SBs) fell well short of Brock's age-25 season (.315 with 43 SBs). That was the season Brock left the Cubs in the lopsided Ernie Broglio deal. It's almost as if Brock got better because he left the Cubs and Patterson didn't because he remained with them! At the time of the trade (about a third of the way into the 1964 season), Brock was hitting .251 with 10 steals, on par with Patterson's age-25 numbers.

But Patterson's 2005 season is historic in a totally different way. If he maintains or lowers his .218 batting average until the end of the year, Patterson will qualify as the only Cub hitter in the last 65 years to hit under .220 with over 425 at-bats. (Bobby Mattick hit .218 in 441 at-bats for the 1940 Cubs).

Patterson's best next step might be to become an ex-Cub -- not an unlikely scenario after this season!

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