Sports
Thursday 1-24-2019 Local Basketball Scores
Published on January 24 2019 5:13 pm
In 1982 Glenn Brummer Pulled Off One Amazing Play
Published on August 23 2018 10:18 am
On August 22, 1982, catcher Glenn Brummer pulled off one of the most incredible plays in Cardinals history. Here's Rick Hummel's original story from that day.
Keith Hernandez sat In a glazed state of wonderment. "I thought I had seen it all." he said. "I have not seen it all."
"I'll probably never see that again in my career. Stealing home plate with two strikes and two outs . . . I'll never see that again."
Hernandez was as overcome as everyone else in Busch Stadium Sunday and that covers 46,827 paying spectators, both managers, the third-base coach and all the other players on both teams when Glenn Brummer stole home with two outs and two strikes on David Green, giving the Cardinals a 5-4 victory in 12 innings over the San Francisco Giants.
Read more at St. Louis Post Dispatch.
Youngsters making an impact for Blues
Published on March 30 2018 11:26 am
A year ago, Vince Dunn and Tage Thompson were busy helping the Chicago Wolves make the American Hockey League playoffs. Now the two Blues rookies are focused on helping the Blues reach the Stanley Cup playoffs for the seventh consecutive season.
In a season of transition for the Blues, Dunn and Thompson have survived the ups and downs of trying to learn, compete and survive as NHL rookies.
Their experience this season will likely help them grow and mature into productive contributors for years to come. For now, though, they must continue to step up to help cap their rookie seasons with playoff berths.
This dramatic kick to get back into wild card position has highlighted the Blues’ impressive young corps, whether rookies such as Dunn and Thompson or 24-year-old defensemen Joel Edmundson and Colton Parayko in their third year in the National Hockey League.
Sure, veterans such as captain Alex Pietrangelo, Alexander Steen, Vladimir Tarasenko, Jake Allen and Brayden Schenn have led the Blues during this season-high six-game winning streak. Don’t overlook the contributions of the youngsters because they’re helping give the Blues hope again this year and, more importantly, for the organization’s long-term outlook.
“I think it’s just taking everything you can each day, listening to the vets that have been through it before and taking the coaches’ input whenever you can,” Dunn said. “There’s a lot of resources for me to be successful here.
“I think I’ve found myself in good positions. Like the power play and little things like that I’ve found myself in those positions before and I think when I’m given the opportunity I have to take advantage of it.”
Where would the Blues be without Edmundson or Parayko? Where would they be without Dunn, 21? Thompson, 20, hasn’t starred as much as those three young defensemen, but he’s also contributing.
Edmundson has more than held his own on the Blues’ first defensive pairing with All-Star Pietrangelo. He averaged 14 minutes, 56 seconds of ice time a game as a rookie and 17:46 minutes last season in his second year in the NHL. Now he is averaging 20:31 minutes of ice time per game.
More impressively, Edmundson has carried a heavy burden during the six-game winning streak while playing 18:03 minutes, 19:59, 20:03, a career-high 25:58 minutes, a new career high 27:28 and 24:10, respectively in the recent streak.
Edmundson isn’t just logging more minutes. He’s excelling.
It’s important to remember that Thompson played only 16 games in the AHL last year because he didn’t sign with the Blues until March after his sophomore season at the University of Connecticut.
Thompson, who has three goals and six assists over 38 games with the Blues, has shuttled between the NHL and the San Antonio Rampage this season. He has two assists and is +1 during the winning streak. His assist on March 17 accounted for only his second point in the NHL since Feb. 1.
With each game, Thompson appears more assertive and more confident. He’s creating scoring opportunities that he wasn’t getting earlier. The Blues still need to work with him on becoming a better player away from the puck.
Earlier in the season it appeared as though Thompson was merely surviving. That’s not the case anymore. As he continues to develop he’ll create more of those scoring opportunities without creating them at the expense of his defense.
Dunn has already made many of the adjustments necessary to graduate from excelling in the AHL to thriving in the NHL.
“I think there’s some similarities,” he said. “Obviously the intensity is a lot higher here. I think at this time of the year it’s a really emotional time when you’re in the game and when you’re not. You’re just really aware of everything 24 hours a day and around the clock.
“You’re making sure you can take your rest when you need it. Right now it’s just really crucial for us to be getting every win that we can. I think it’s just being ready for everything that comes our way. To be able to battle a little adversity like we have before I think that’s good for us and I think we’re starting to build our confidence back.”
The renewed confidence is evident throughout the entire Blues’ roster. Established veterans realize over time that they cannot dwell on the defeats too long or celebrate very long after victories. The next humbling defeat is always a game away if you grow overconfident in the NHL.
“It is difficult. There’s no question,” Blues coach Mike Yeo said. “Luckily we have a lot of guys with veteran experience that can help them and can help show them the way. But that’s part of it. That’s part of the challenge.
“You have to be able to deal with that. You have to be able to deal with emotions, good and bad, and find a way to be prepared and get ready for your games.”
Now, they’re learning how to deal with a long winning streak.
“I think that’s our biggest challenge right now,” Yeo said. “We’ve had some success. How do we deal with that? How do we handle that? You get maybe a positive result from another game last game.
“I think for the last couple of weeks, last several weeks, there’s been an element of fear that we’ve had that’s really helped to sharpen our game and our desperation. We can’t allow that to slip.”