ST. LOUIS — Around 20,000 men have played Major League Baseball. But how many are lucky enough to have a signature moment that a fan base is still talking about 40 years after it happened?
Glenn Brummer is one of them.
“This place has changed…. Just a little bit in 40 years," Brummer said walking outside of Busch Stadium III, in the outline of where Busch Stadium II once stood.
The scene of the crime may look a bit different, but Brummer's memory of that hot August day in 1982 is as vivid as ever.
Brummer was back in town recently with a host of his 1982 World Series champion teammates for the team's 40th anniversary.
The 1982 Cardinals were one of the fastest teams in franchise history. Constructed by manager Whitey Herzog for the AstroTurf of Busch Stadium, the 80's Cardinals beat you with a combination of defense, and speed.
Speaking of speed, anchored by names like Ozzie, Willie, Lonnie and Tommy, the '82 Cardinals stole 200 bases that season.
“I felt sorry for the catchers who came into town (on opposing teams)," Brummer said.
“Lance Parrish… his first game in St. Louis I guess we stole six bases off him. The next day he had a sleeve on his elbow. Couldn’t play. Serious. He was done," Brummer said.
But it's a stolen base from the team's third-string catcher from Effingham, Illinois that grabbed the most headlines that year.
August 22, 1982 – the Cardinals are hosting the San Francisco Giants in a game that goes to extra innings.
Brummer had entered the game as a pinch runner in the eighth inning for Steve Braun. In the 12th, Brummer singled to left and eventually ended up on third base with two outs, the bases loaded and David Green at the plate.
That's when he spotted his wife in the stands.
“The funny thing about this play… when I hit third base I noticed my wife, Shelly. Thank God," Brummer paused. "She’s in heaven now. She passed away seven years ago. She was siting behind the third base dugout with her brother, and wife and they had a little baby and they had a flight at 5 o'clock. And she said 'Glenn can you do something?' I looked up and said, ‘I don’t know, maybe.'"
So with lanky lefty Gary Lavelle on the mound with a high leg kick and the San Francisco third baseman paying no attention to him, Brummer slowly started to develop a lead, that got to almost 30-feet off third.
The catcher with only one career steal to his name at that point had an idea of how to get this game over with, but his third base coach didn't quite agree.
“I asked Chuck, 'You know I can go?' And he said, ‘I know you can but I ain’t gonna let ya,'" Brummer remembered.
But then with two strikes on Green at the plate, go Brummer did, to the surprise of everyone in the stadium.
“I remember screaming, 'What the hell are you doing?'... I think he had two strikes on him. You just don’t do that. But when you’re hot, you’re hot," former Cardinals first baseman Keith Hernandez said.
“That was just typical Brum. He just probably all of a sudden thought, 'I have a chance to do this.' He didn’t know if it was the tenth inning or the first inning," former Cardinals second baseman Tommy Herr said.
“Like a bull in a china shop he heard me coming," Brummer said of Green getting out of the way at home plate so he could slide in.
Brummer's big lead gave him the advantage, and he went bowling into home headfirst, getting under the tag and winning the game for the Cardinals 7-6 in 12 innings.
“So I jump up and make sure… I am safe right? And then I jumped into Tommy Herr’s arms and said, 'We’re done, let’s get off the field. Let’s go have a beverage,'” Brummer remembered while walking the field outline in Ballpark Village of where Busch Stadium II's home plate was.
“I think the surprise of the whole thing confused everybody including the umpire and I’m not sure if he even called the pitch a ball or a strike he just called him safe," Herr said.
In fact, the umpire had jumped out of position to call the play at home plate and didn't give a ball or strike call. A third strike would have ended the inning for the Cardinals.
“You could send that one to New York and it would take them 5 to 10 minutes to cypher that one out," Brummer said of if the play would have happened today.
But always one step ahead of everyone, Herzog knew to get out of there with their miracle as fast as they could.
“He (Whitey) went to the grounds crew and said, ‘Roll this tarp and let’s get off the field before someone changes their mind,'” Brummer laughed.
After the game, Cardinals pitcher Jim Kaat went out to a sporting goods store, bought a home plate and had everyone on the team sign it, and a cartoon of Brummer as a wanted thief drawn on it. The home plate still hangs in the Cardinals Hall of Fame and Museum.
All of his Cardinals teammates loved that their dedicated catcher got his moment in the sun.
“And just his personality. He’s a tough competitor and very supportive of his teammates so to see him experience something like that was really great," Herr said.
The walk-off steal actually did end up having playoff implications for the Giants in 1982, who missed out on the NL West title by just two games.
Brummer went on to enjoy a five year big league career, rack up a grand total of two more stolen bases and even appear in Game 6 of the 1982 World Series as a late-inning replacement behind the plate.
“I get a call in the bullpen. Dave Ricketts answers it and says, 'Brummer you’re in the game.' 'You sure? Call back down and make sure this is right,'” Brummer remembered asking. “I thank Whitey every day for putting me in the game to finish it up.”
But the 67-year-old now resident of Branson will always be known for that one moment in the spotlight in the midst of a championship year. And he doesn't get tired of talking about it.
“Their number one question was, ‘What if you weren’t safe?’ I said, ‘I don’t know, I’d probably be in Louisville the next day’," Brummer laughed.
Cardinals broadcaster Mike Shannon really did say it best back in 1982 in his call of the memorable moment: "You wouldn't believe it. Glenn Brummer!"
“I guess I stunned 47,000 people," Brummer said.