Cardinals: 5 memorable moments from 1982 Championship Season

Glenn Brummer’s mad dash

On August 22, 1982, Glenn Brummer became the most famous third string catcher in the history of the Cardinals. The little-used Brummer stole home with two outs in the bottom of 12th to give the Cardinals a 5-4 victory against the San Francisco Giants.

What made Brummer’s suicide squeeze even more of a rarity was there was a 1-2 count on the batter at the plate, David Green. Even in the Whitey Herzog era where stolen bases were encouraged, and left to the judgement of the player on base, Brummer’s steal was still a surprise to his manager, third base coach, teammates, the San Francisco Giants, or any of the over 46,000 fans in Busch Stadium.

Herzog said “we tell them, if they think they can make it, to go ahead, but trying to steal home with two outs and a 1-2 count, violates most, if not all, the unwritten rules of baseball,” The Cardinal manager added, “Nobody knew he was coming, I didn’t either.”

Brummer, who was signed as an undrafted amateur free agent in 1974 by the Cardinals, wouldn’t have been in the lineup that August day, if it hadn’t been for Dane Iorg’s wife going into labor. With Iorg at the hospital with with his wife, Herzog penciled Brummer in the lineup.