A steal of home is one of the most exciting plays in the game of baseball. And when Glenn Brummer does it to win a game in the middle of a pennant race … well, that’s on a whole different level.
In the early 20th century, home plate steals were a relatively common part of the national pastime. Ty Cobb, the all-time leader, swiped home 54 times. Max Carey, who suited up for the 1910s and 1920s Pittsburgh Pirates and Brooklyn Robins, is second with 33. Even Babe Ruth stole home a remarkable 10 times!
As power numbers increased, steals of home decreased in frequency. It just wasn’t worth the risk. By the middle of the century, home steals had become less common but not entirely phased out. Jackie Robinson did it 19 times, including one during the 1955 World Series. The only player to debut after Robinson in the top 25 is Rod Carew, who stole home 17 times.
So far in 2023, a few of the games most exciting young players have stole home: Elly De La Cruz, José Ramírez, and Fernando Tatis Jr. It’s still a shocking play to see, even when one of the game’s burners does it.
It should come as no surprise that the Runnin’ Redbirds of 1982 won a game with a steal of home. But what’s shocking is that it wasn’t Ozzie, Loonie, or Willie that accomplished the feat; it was the third-string catcher—Glenn Brummer.
From Triple-A Backup to .400
Brummer did not begin the ’82 season with the big-league club. In fact, he was the Triple-A backup out of spring training. With Gene Tenace on the shelf with a thumb fracture to start the season, the Cards began the season with a catching duo of Darrell Porter and Orlando Sánchez. Brummer was behind George Bjorkman on the Louisville depth chart. But Bjorkman struggled early, and when Porter joined Tenace on the disabled list, St. Louis summoned the 27-year-old Brummer in spite of his .107 average in 28 Triple-A at-bats.
Brummer, the pride of Effingham High School and Lake Land College in Mattoon, Illinois, was in his ninth year in the organization. He first saw time with the Cardinals in ’81 and performed well after his May ’82 callup, hitting .400 (8-for-20) during a West Coast road trip. By late June, Porter and Tenace had returned from their injuries. Brummer remained on the roster (Sánchez was sent down to the minors) and was relegated to third-string catching duties.
A Rare Appearance by Glenn Brummer
On August 20-22, the Cardinals hosted the San Francisco Giants at Busch Stadium. Entering the series, only one game separated the Redbirds and the second-place Phillies. The Expos and Pirates were five and seven games back, respectively. St. Louis was in the top position, but the division was still very much up for grabs.
The Cards and Giants split the first two games of the series, a pair of hard-fought one-run affairs. The rubber match on Sunday, August 22 was another close contest. San Fran held a 4-3 advantage with two outs in the ninth inning when Ken Oberkfell doubled home David Green to even the score and send the game to extras.
Tenace had started at catcher for St. Louis and was lifted for pinch-hitter Steve Braun late in the game. Porter had already pinch-hit, so Brummer was inserted behind the dish. Brummer had not started a game since June 19 and had come to bat only once in that stretch. To say he was rusty was an understatement. His second at-bat in 63 days against Giants reliever Gary Lavelle in the 10th inning resulted in a strikeout.
The game was still knotted at 4-4, and Lavelle was still in the game when Brummer’s spot in the order came back around in the 12th. This time, the right-hand hitting Brummer managed to pull a single through the left side against the southpaw Lavelle. Singles by McGee and Ozzie moved Brummer to third and loaded the bases with two outs. That brought Green to the plate with the game on the line.
“Chuck, I can go.”
Lavelle, pitching from the stretch with his patented high leg kick, got ahead of Green with two strikes. During the first couple of pitches, Brummer crept down the line about 30 feet. In his estimation, he could make it home. “Chuck, I can go,” said Brummer to third-base coach Chuck Hiller “I know, but you’d better not,” responded Hiller.1
On the next pitch, Brummer decided to test his luck. “It was hot,” he told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in 2021. “We all wanted to go home.”2 Lavelle’s offering was down the middle, but catcher Milt May reached out to catch the ball while umpire Dave Pallone got in position to call the play. Brummer slid home ahead of May’s tag and was called safe. Brummer was mobbed by his teammates as Giants manager Frank Robinson argued the non-strike call to no avail. The Cards were victorious, 5-4.
Like the come-from-behind win on April 11, the win was one of the turning points of the season for St. Louis. In his memoir Wizard, Ozzie Smith wrote, “If there was one game that convinced me and the rest of the guys that this was going to be our year, it came on August 22.”3
After Brummer got thrown out attempting to steal three consecutive times in 1983, Whitey Herzog gave him the permanent red light. He would end his five-year major-league career with four steals in 12 attempts.
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