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Cubs catchers who have stolen home -- and third

Until a video review overturned the umpire's call of safe, Tony Wolters appeared on Sunday to have become the first Cubs catcher to steal home in nearly 55 years.

It would have been only the Cubs' second such theft in exactly 80 years, and just their 11th since 1920.

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'REBEL' DELIVERS

The last to do it successfully was Randy Hundley, at Wrigley Field, against the Astros on Thursday, May 19, 1966.

Hundley, 24, had been acquired in the off season from the Giants, for whom he had played just 8 games the previous 2 years. From 1966-69, he would average 153 for the Cubs.

He doubled home a run in the second inning to give the Cubs a 1-0 lead.

Adolfo Phillips led off the third with a homer. Singles by Glenn Beckert and Billy Williams, then a sacrifice fly by Ron Santo produced another run.

After an out, Byron Browne singled. Hundley followed with a 2-run triple that made the score 5-0 and knocked out starter Turk Farrell.

"[Jack] Kroll entered in relief," the Chicago Tribune said the next day, "and, after Hundley made a couple of fake advances from third to the plate, [Manager Leo] Durocher told Whitey Lockman, third base coach, to send him all the way. It wasn't even close."

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Only 3,952 were on hand to witness Hundley's feat. They also saw the Cubs win, 7-1, to end a six-game losing streak, including both games of a doubleheader the previous day.

With a record of just 7-22, the Cubs were last in the 10-team league, 13.5 games behind the first-place Giants (23-11) and 11 behind the second-place Astros (20-13).

The victory began a stretch of 4 wins in 5 games for the Cubs. They would have only 1 such stretch the rest of the season, as they finished 59-103, tying a team record for losses and winding up 10th for the first time in franchise history.

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In Hundley's 10 seasons as a Cub, he stole 12 bases, 9 while catching, with a high of 5 in 1973, at age 31.

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SUMMER OF '41

Hundley's steal of home came more than a quarter of a century since the last such theft by a Cubs catcher.

On Friday, May 2, 1941, the Cubs played the Dodgers at Brooklyn's Ebbets Field.

They scored 2 quick runs in the top of the first, on back-to-back 1-out walks, then consecutive RBI singles.

Catcher Clyde McCullough, 24 years old and in his first full season, drew a walk to start the second inning. Pitcher Bill Lee bunted McCullough to second, and he advanced to third when Stan Hack grounded out to first.

With the count 0-2 on Billy Myers, McCullough raced toward home and beat the throw from pitcher Whit Wyatt.

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The Dodgers were not pleased with McCullough's steal. When he came to the plate again, with 2 out and nobody on in the fourth, Wyatt fired several pitches that nearly hit McCullough.

Cubs Manager Jimmy Wilson then called McCullough to the dugout, after which McCullough bunted to the right side, "trying to make the Dodger pitcher cover, to tickle him with a little spike steel," as the Brooklyn Eagle put it.

He failed to do so, as the ball was hit too hard and was handled instead by the first baseman.

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That riled up the Dodgers, who scored 3 times in the fifth to tie the game.

Wyatt struck out McCullough in the top of the seventh, then the Dodgers broke the tie on a 2-out hit in the bottom.

They added 3 more runs in the eighth, the last on a double by Wyatt. He also struck out McCullough again in the ninth on his way to a complete-game, 4-hit, 7-3 victory.

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McCullough would spend 11 seasons as a Cub, 1940-43, 1946-48 and 1953-56. During those seasons, he stole 21 bases, 20 of them while catching.

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EARLY FIREWORKS

McCullough's steal of home was the Cubs' second by a catcher in less than 10 months. Bob Collins had turned the trick at home against the Pirates on July 3, 1940.

The Cubs trailed, 5-4, going to the bottom of the eighth. They loaded the bases on 3 straight singles, but the next batter struck out, then Collins grounded to third and the runner heading home was forced out.

Bobby Mattick then delivered a single that scored 2 runs, giving the Cubs a 6-5 lead.

With pitcher Claude Passeau at the plate, Collins stole home with what proved to be the final run of the day.

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ROARING TWENTIES

The Cubs' 7 earlier steals of home by a catcher in the Live Ball Era all came between 1921 and 1929.

Tom Daly registered the first, at New York on July 11, 1921.

He entered a game at New York in the bottom of the seventh, then hit a 1-out single in the ninth. He moved up to second on a hit and to third on a forceout before racing home with the last run in the Cubs' 7-2 win.

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Daly was 29 and in his last of 8 big league seasons, during which the appeared in only 244 games, 121 of them for the Cubs in 1918-21.

His steal of home was the last of just 2 as a Cub. He had 3 more, all for the White Sox in 1914.

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LOVE THAT BOB

Bob O'Farrell played his first game for the Cubs in 1915, at age 18. Traded to the Cardinals in 1925, he was the league's Most Valuable Player the following year, then played for the Giants, Cardinals again and Reds before returning to the Cubs for 22 games in 1934, at age 37.

1922 and 1923 were the only years that O'Farrell was the Cubs' starting catcher, and in those seasons he batted .324 and .329, with an OPS of .880 and .879.

He stole 5 bases the first year and 10 the next -- and 4 of the 15 were thefts of home!

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On Sept. 21, 1922, at Philadelphia, the Cubs broke open a 3-1 game with 5 runs in the seventh inning. O'Farrell doubled in the third and fourth runs, then took third on a single by Vic Keen.

George Smith relieved starter Lefty Weinert after that hit, and while he was facing Jigger Statz, O'Farrell stole home and Keen stole second.

O'Farrell's run made the score 8-1 and the Cubs hung on to win, 8-6.

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3 IN 3 MONTHS

In 1923, O'Farrell stole home 3 times, making him the only Cub catcher ever to do so more than once in a season.

The first of the 3, on June 30, was dramatic, to say the least.

With the Cubs and Cardinals tied at 3 in the bottom of the eighth, O'Farrell singled, was bunted to second and went to third on a single by Hack Miller.

After a strikeout, with rookie Allen Elliott at the plate, O'Farrell and Miller pulled off a double steal, with O'Farrell sliding under the tag by catcher Eddie Ainsmith to record the go-ahead run.

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Two months later, on Aug. 31, the Cubs led, 4-1, in the top of the ninth at Cincinnati. O'Farrell reached first on a dropped third strike, was bunted to second, advanced to third on a forceout and then stole home.

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On Sept. 27, O'Farrell performed the feat again, this time at home, against the Cardinals.

He had hit a 3-run homer in the first to open the scoring, then delivered a 2-run double in the seventh that increased the Cubs' lead to 7-2. A groundout and a walk set the stage for his theft, which came with 2 out and Ray Grimes at the plate.

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GAMBLING GABBY

O'Farrell's third steal of home in 1923 also was the last of O'Farrell's 23 steals as a Cub -- 22 of them as a catcher.

Only 1 Cub catcher has stolen more bases: Hall of Famer Gabby Hartnett, with 24. He stole home twice, both times in 1924, both against the Braves.

On May 25, the Cubs led, 3-0, with 1 out in the bottom of the sixth and had runners on second and third. Hartnett was walked intentionally and the next batter struck out. But Jigger Statz singled, scoring 2 runs, and with Charlie Hollocher up, Hartnett and Statz pulled off a double steal.

The Cubs ultimately won, 11-0.

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At Boston on Aug. 11, there was no score in the second when Hartnett hit into an apparent forceout of Bernie Friberg, but the second baseman dropped the ball. Friberg then stole third and Hartnett swiped second.

Moments later, Statz grounded to short and Friberg was thrown out at home. Then Hartnett barreled home and Statz raced to second, for the Cubs' second double steal of the inning.

The Cubs added runs in the third and seventh, then held off the Braves, 3-2.

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LAST OF DECADE

Mike Gonzalez was the last Cubs catcher to steal home during the 1920s.

His steal, in the eighth inning on June 18, 1929, was the Cubs' final run in a 13-6 rout of the visiting Cardinals.

That was the last of Gonzalez's 5 years with the Cubs, during which he played 298 games and stole 9 bases. Gonzalez had a 17-season career that spanned 21 years, 1912-32.

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DEAD BALL STEALS

The Cubs likely had many more than 10 steals of home prior to 1920.

According to Baseball-Reference.com, Cubs catchers stole 261 bases in 1900-19. But play-by-play is not available at the website for many of those games, and there are too many of them to check contemporary newspaper accounts of each.

Those 261 steals are 22 more than Cubs catchers have had in the 102 seasons since, 1920-2021.

Their grand total for the entire Modern Era reached 500 on April 29, when Willson Contreras stole second base at Atlanta.

(That number counts only steals made when a player was serving as the catcher in a game, not any made after entering the game as a pinch hitter or pinch runner, before taking over behind the plate. Nor does it include any steals made before or after the player caught, if he played multiple positions during a game.)

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MOST IN SEASON

Cubs catchers stole 12 bases in 1923 and 10 in 1924. Their highest total since then is 9, in 1942 and 1990.

They have had at least 5 in 9 seasons, but only 2 since 1941: 7 in 1973 and 5 in 1979.

They have had none in 26 seasons, including 2012 and 2020.

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MOST IN CAREER

Contreras' steal last week was his 11th as a catcher, ranking him fifth since 1920 in that category, behind Hartnett (24), O'Farrell (22), McCullough (20) and Joe Girardi (11).

Gonzalez, Hundley and Rick Wilkins each had 9; Jody Davis and Tyler Houston, 7; Barry Foote and Rollie Hemsley, 6; and Bill Killefer and Bob Scheffing, 5.

The 61 different catchers who have stolen bases include 25 with exactly 1. Among them are Victor Caratini, David Ross, Kyle Schwarber and Geovany Soto.

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LAST TO SWIPE THIRD

Another catcher with 1 steal as a Cub is the most recent to steal third base.

Benito Santiago did it on Sept. 23, 1999, at home against the Pirates.

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Since 1920, Cubs catchers have stolen third 23 times, including 6 as the leader runner in a double steal.

On June 10, 1984, Jody Davis did it as part of an incredible triple steal.

With the Cubs on top, 1-0, in the ninth inning at St. Louis, Leon Durham smacked a leadoff double. He reached third on a 1-out fly.

The Cardinals intentionally walked Davis and Larry Bowa, to bring up pitcher Lee Smith. Durham foiled the strategy by swiping home, with the other runners stealing, too.

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Hartnett stole third 7 times; Girardi, Gonzalez and McCullough, twice each.

Tim Hosley is the only catcher besides Santiago whose only steal as a Cub was of third. He did it at San Francisco on July 24, 1975.

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