August 22, 1982 - "Brummer's Stealing Home!"

Sunday, August 22, 1982 - At Busch Stadium II (Joaquin Andujar - Starting Pitcher) - Opponent:  San Francisco Giants (Atlee Hammaker - Starting Pitcher) - Attendance:  46,821

No one in their right mind would have imagined it.  No one in their right mind would have attempted it.  But it happened anyway.  In the bottom of the twelfth-inning in a tie ballgame with the San Francisco Giants, the Cardinals had just loaded the bases with two out.  In the batter's box was David Green and on third base was an antsy Glen Brummer.  As Giants reliever Gary LaVelle began his windup, Brummer suddenly bolted towards home plate.  Home plate umpire Dave Pallone - no stranger to controversial calls - ruled Brummer safe at home.  The Giants vehemently argued that the pitch taken by Green was in the strike zone - for what should have been a third strike.  Pallone insisted it was a ball - and even if he had second thoughts, it was too late to do anything about it once the pandemonium on the field erupted - which began about one second after his "safe" call.

Perhaps the Cardinals caught a break - but those things tend to even out over the course of a season.  One thing is certain:  From that day forward, whenever the name "Glen Brummer" pops up in a conversation throughout Cardinal Nation, it will invariably be linked to that audacious 12th-inning walk-off theft of home in the middle of a heated pennant race.  It was perhaps the single most defining moment of the entire regular season for the Redbirds.

Even before that crazy finish, this game had its share of drama.  The Cardinals struck first off Giants starter Atlee Hammaker - scoring a second-inning run on back-to-back doubles by George Hendrick and Gene Tenace.

Then in the fourth-inning, with Hendrick on first base with two out, Willie McGee homered to give St Louis a 3-0 lead.

Cards starter Joaquin Andujar pitched five innings of scoreless ball before unraveling in the sixth.  A one-out two-run double by Jack Clark preceded a Darrell Evans single to bring home the Ripper.  After Dave Bergman lined another single wihch advanced Evans to third, manager Whitey Herzog yanked his Dominican Dandy in favor of the lefty reliever - John Martin.  The first batter he faced - Milt May - scored Evans from third with the go-ahead run on a ground out to second - but Martin did a nice job of damage control just to keep it a 4-3 deficit.  Martin departed after pitching a scoreless seventh - then Doug Bair added two more perfect innings of relief.

The Cardinals were still down 4-3 entering their half of the ninth-inning - as closer Greg Minton tried to nail it down for Frank Robinson's squad.  He struck out the first batter he faced - Ozzie Smith - but hit the next batter with a pitch - the speedy David Green - who wasted no time in stealing second with Tommy Herr batting.  Green then took off for third - but Herr grounded out to the shortstop - perhaps foiling another successful steal by Green.

With the Cardinals down to their last out, Ken Oberkfell came through with the game-tying hit - a double into right field.  This one was heading into extra innings.

Jim Kaat came out of the Cardinal bullpen to pitch the tenth-inning.  The first batter he faced - Will Venable - stirred up some trouble with a double.  Then with Joe Morgan batting and Glen Brummer now catching, Morgan lifted a foul popup behind home plate - which Brummer dropped.  Kaat - the cool professional - gave his young catcher a look that said, "Shucks, don't worry about it kid!"  He struck Morgan out on the next pitch.

After walking Chili Davis intentionally - Kaat then induced pinch hitter Jim Wohlford to ground one to Tommy Herr for the easy 4-6-3 double play to end the threat.

The Cardinals threatened to end it in the eleventh - but luckily, they kept the game going - for the twelfth-inning Glen Brummer Show.  Herr was stationed on third with one out - after he was picked off first by the new Giants pitcher - Gary LaVelle - but first baseman Dave Bergman forgot to catch the ball.  However, pitcher Jeff Lahti was the next batter - and he could only hit a weak ground ball back to the pitcher - as Herr had nowhere to run.  For a split second, it appeared Keith Hernandez might end it - but his line drive was snared by Bergman this time - probably more in self-defense than anything else.

After Lahti finished his perfect 1.1 inning stint, LaVelle returned to the mound to face the Cardinals in the fateful twelfth-inning.  After Hendrick flew out to left to start the inning, our hero - Brummer - always up there hacking - singled to left.  It's interesting to note - in 64 plate appearances in 1982 - Brummer rarely saw a pitch he didn't like.  He never walked.  In other words, this kid appeared to be too impatient to waste time dilly dallying around - which may explain why he suddenly bolted for home plate out of the blue a few minutes into the future.

Willie McGee - who homered earlier in this game - lined a single to left, as Brummer showed great restraint by stopping at second base.  After Julio Gonzalez was retired on a foul popup to the suddenly sure-handed Bergman at first base - Ozzie kept the inning alive with an infield single off the pitcher's glove.

Holy cow, the bases were now loaded.  What happened next was described by the astonished Mike Shannon on the Cardinals' radio network:  "Brummer's stealing home!"

Yes, he was safe - raising his season stolen base total to two (he had four in his brief major league career).

Most importantly, the NL East division-leading Cardinals (71-52) didn't lose any ground to the Phillies - who also won on this Sunday afternoon - so they were still two games behind the Runnin' Redbirds in the tight NL East race.

August 6, 1970 - Brock Steals Home in 3-0 Win Over Seaver, Mets

Thursday, August 6, 1970 - At Busch Stadium II (Nelson Briles - Starting Pitcher) - Opponent:  New York Mets (Tom Seaver - Starting Pitcher) - Attendance:  23,412

Lou Brock - the National League's all-time career stolen base leader (938) - stole home for the first and only time as a member of the St Louis Cardinals - sparking the Redbirds to a 3-0 win over Tom Seaver (16-6) and the New York Mets.  Seaver had won nine straight decisions prior to this game - but he got no help from his offense.  Nelson Briles pitched brilliantly - scattering seven hits in nine full innings of work, without walking a single batter.  He struck out a season-high nine batters - improving to 4-3 on the season.

In terms of historical significance, Brock's feat stole the show, however - and it happened in the very first turn at bat for the Cardinals.  Brock led-off the bottom of the first with a double to left field off Seaver - then advanced to third on Julian Javier's ground out to the second baseman.  After Joe Hague walked, Seaver struck out Dick Allen for the second out of the inning.

Then with Joe Torre batting, manager Red Schoendienst decided to try something a bit unorthodox - calling for the double steal.  It worked perfectly - as Hague got a great jump off first to beat catcher Jerry Grote's throw to second - and by the time the return throw to the plate arrived,  Brock had already slid safely into home - to give the Cardinals a quick 1-0 lead.  For Hague - no speedster by any means - he would only log two stolen bases for the entire season - and just four in his six-year major league career.

Prior to stumbling across this game summary on Baseball Reference.com, I was under the erroneous impression that Brock had never stolen home in his career.  That was based on several different sources claiming that to be fact - Starting with a SABR - Research Journals Archive article written by Raymond Gonzalez, pointing out that Brock never stole home which was "quite a surprise".  He goes on to mention that "another Lou" - Gehrig stole home fifteen times in his career - and that total was "fifteen more than Brock".

Here's another surprise:  Brock also stole home as part of a double steal when he was still a member of the Chicago Cubs - against the Cincinnati Reds (at Crosley Field) on May 22, 1964.  So he had two career steals of home, Mr Gonzalez - thirteen less than Gehrig.

In another book that was published in 2009 - ESPN - The Mighty Book of Sports Knowledge - edited by Steve Wulf - the myth was perpetuated that "Brock never stole home."

In 2009, a Sports Illustrated article by Ted Keith mentions the fact that Rickey Henderson only stole home four times in his career (1406 stolen bases) - but that was "four more than Lou Brock had".

In posting about previous games in St Louis Cardinals history - whenever a double steal occurred, I'd always remind the reader that so-and-so stole home - adding to the long list of Cardinals who accomplished such a feat - but this was a list that excluded Lou Brock (supposedly).  Now we know the truth.

At any rate, getting back to this game - the Cardinals added two more runs in the fourth-inning - using speed as a weapon (naturally).  Stolen base wizard Hague led-off the inning with a triple to right field - then Dick Allen drove him in with a single.  Not to be outdone, Dick Allen stole second (he stole five bags all season) - then two outs later, after advancing to third - scored on an RBI single by Mike Shannon.

In terms of the pennant race, this game had no significance for the Cardinals, who were already out of the picture - nine games under .500 (50-59) - trailing Pittsburgh by a dozen or so games.

As far as Brock is concerned, I just wonder why he didn't try this more often over his long career.  It would have made watching some of those dreadful games in the '70's a little easier to bear.