At a young age his father moved the family to Washington state where Tony blossomed into a Major League Baseball player.

Oscar's father, Bjug Harstad, founded Pacific Lutheran Academy after doing missionary work in Minnesota and the Dakota territories while the Brottem's lived in that area.

From 1913 to 1915, Tony played pro ball for three different teams in the Class-B Northwestern League, Victoria, Tacoma, and Vancouver.

Playing sporadically as the backup catcher, Tony was on the big league roster the whole season, but only appeared in 26 games and had a .250 OBP.

Most of the 1918 season was spent with Little Rock of the Class-A Southern Association, but he returned to the Cardinals in July for two more big league games, including his first career start.

August 5, 1921, Tony was the Bucs starting catcher in the first baseball game ever broadcast over commercial radio, Pirates vs.

Just two weeks after being released from the Aviators, and believing his baseball career was over, he committed suicide by slashing his own throat on August 5, 1929, in Chicago, Illinois.