Historically significant baseball games I have attended #4

Who was playing? San Francisco Giants versus St. Louis Cardinals

Where did they play? Busch Memorial Stadium, St. Louis, MO

When did they play? August 22, 1982

Did I know this game might be significant before it started? No

What happened? The St. Louis Cardinals beat the San Francisco Giants 5-4 in extra innings. The winning run was scored in the bottom of the 12th with two outs when Cardinal catcher Glenn Brummer stole home.

What do I remember? The Cardinals were playing well and were in a tight race for the National League East (old-style) Division title. The game was on a Sunday afternoon, and I went with my father, brother, and maybe somebody else (perhaps a friend of my brother). It was very sunny and hot, and we moved around a lot during the game to sit in different seats.

When the 12th inning came, we were sitting on the third base side. Either we were sitting in the sun and the field was in the shade, or we were sitting in the shade and the field was in the sun. Either way, there was both bright sunlight and dark shadows at the same time.

I remember being surprised when the base runner (Glenn Brummer) on third suddenly started running towards home plate. He slid in just as the pitch arrived, and the umpire called him safe. We were all very happy and cheering, but I remember having one worry - since there were two outs and also two strikes on the batter, if the pitch was a strike, then the run would not have counted. But the umpire made no signal other than safe at home, so the game was over.

Was there an aftermath? The Cardinals went on to win the National League East, the National League Championship Series (over the Atlanta Braves), and the World Series (over the Milwaukee Brewers).

Glenn Brummer's steal of home has gone down as the best-remembered moment of the Cardinals 1982 regular season. It has been the subject of many feature articles, blog postings, newspaper articles, and television programs. It has also been memorialized in a plaque that can be found in St. Louis. (See photo below)

At some point in my life, I heard a radio interview with the person in charge of making the World Series Championship rings every year for the winning team. When the radio host asked the ring-maker man who had the largest ring size of any player they had made a ring for, the answer was "Glenn Brummer."

Above, the World Series ring for the 2006 (not 1982) St. Louis Cardinals

Major league baseball teams and whether I have seen them

Baseball teams that I have never seen play in person:

Baseball teams I have probably seen play at some point, but I can not remember specifically when*:

Baseball teams I know I have seen in person:

All other current teams, including-

*A) I was taken to see many St. Louis Cardinals games as a child, but I can't remember who played in all of them; B) I worked as a vendor at Busch Memorial Stadium during the summer of 1987. I saw many teams play the Cardinals while I was working. I just can not remember which ones.

False Memories #1 - Roy Green's Five Touchdown Catches

What I remember: On November 13, 1983, Grandpa Nussbaum took me with him to see the St. Louis Cardinals play the Seattle Seahawks. Cardinals receiver Roy Green (pictured below) caught five touchdown passes to tie an NFL single-game record.

What actually happened: Roy Green caught four touchdown passes in the first half, and we spent the entire second half desperately hoping that he would catch another one to tie the record. He did not.

For probably twenty years I went around telling people that I had seen Roy Green catch five touchdown passes that day. Only recently did I try to look it up, and then I found out the truth.

Below, Busch Memorial Stadium

Historically significant baseball games I have attended #1

Who was playing? Los Angeles Dodgers versus St. Louis Cardinals

Where did they play? Busch Memorial Stadium, St. Louis, MO

When did they play? October 14, 1985

Did I know this game might be significant before it started? Yes. It was Game Five of the National League Championship Series. The series was tied 2-2 (best of seven format).

What happened? Cardinals shortstop Ozzie Smith came up to bat in the bottom of the ninth with the game tied. Ozzie hit his first career left-handed home run off Dodgers reliever Tom Niedenfuer to win the game. On the radio, St. Louis announcer Jack Buck intoned his now-famous line, "Go crazy, folks! Go crazy!"

The Cardinals went on to wrap up the National League Championship Series in Game Six in Los Angeles on a Jack Clark home run off, again, Dodgers reliever Tom Niedenfuer.

Ultimately, the Cardinals lost the World Series to the Kansas City Royals in seven games after having been up three games to one.

What do I remember? It was warm for October and so muggy and humid that you could practically see the water hovering in the air. Back then, they still played important playoff games in the afternoon, so I got to miss school to go see the game. My father got excellent tickets - row 13 behind the first base dugout - and we sat right in front of Ron Glass, the actor who played Detective Harris on the television show Barney Miller.

At one point during the game, I turned around to stare at Ron Glass and I think he gave me a shrug of the shoulders and a sheepish grin.

When Ozzie Smith came up to bat in the ninth inning, I turned to my father and said, "Ozzie has never hit a home run left-handed." (Back then I knew a lot about baseball.) Right after that, as if on cue, the scoreboard operating people posted the same fact on the giant scoreboard out in right-center field. When Ozzie Smith hit his home run - a line drive that barely cleared the fence in right field - the ball struck a concrete pillar and bounced back onto the field, so, for a split-second, no one was sure if it was a home run or not.

Then the stadium erupted - still the loudest noise I think I have ever heard. My father and I high-fived each other and I turned to try to catch the reaction on Ron Glass's face, but he had already disappeared into the crowd. My father and I sprinted out of Busch Memorial Stadium and back to our parking space under the highway bridge as if we were lifted on a cushion of really humid, semi-visible air.

Click here for the box score.