Germany Schaefer Runs Backward

A man who ran the wrong way on purpose, a pilot who came home to pitch, a statue, and baseball's longest commute.

This Day in the Old Ball Game comic strip for August 4: four panels depicting Germany Schaefer stealing first base by sprinting backward from second in 1911; Bert Shepard, a P-38 pilot who lost his right leg over Germany, pitching 5 1/3 innings for Washington on an artificial leg in 1945; the ten-foot bronze statue of Stan Musial being unveiled at Busch Stadium in 1968; and Joel Youngblood collecting hits for two teams in two cities on the same day in 1982, off Ferguson Jenkins at Wrigley and Steve Carlton in Philadelphia.

Ed. 08.04.26

Germany Schaefer Runs Backward (1911)

Clyde Milan was on third with the winning run, Germany Schaefer on first, bottom of the ninth. Schaefer broke for second hoping to draw a throw. Catcher Fred Payne just held the ball. So on the next pitch he stole first, sprinting backward to the bag he had left so he could run it again. Hugh Duffy stormed out to argue, Schaefer took off for second a third time, and Milan was thrown out at the plate in the chaos. The rulebook still carries the fix.

A Pilot Takes the Mound (1945)

Bert Shepard's P-38 went down over Germany in 1944 and he lost his right leg below the knee. After a POW camp, a prisoner exchange, and an artificial leg at Walter Reed, he told the Secretary of War he wanted to play ball. Washington signed him. Down 14-2 in the fourth with the bases loaded, manager Ossie Bluege waved him in. Shepard struck out Catfish Metkovich to end the inning, then finished the game: 5 1/3 innings, three hits, one run. He never pitched another big league game and never needed to.

Stan the Man in Bronze (1968)

Five years after he retired, Musial stood at Busch Stadium with his 1941 teammates as a ten-foot bronze of him was unveiled. The base carries Ford Frick's farewell line: baseball's perfect warrior, baseball's perfect knight. Then 47,445 fans watched Bob Gibson, on his way to a 1.12 ERA, work into extra innings for nothing. The Cubs won 6-5. The statue outlived the ballpark it was built for.

The Longest Wednesday (1982)

Joel Youngblood woke up a Met, singled home two off Ferguson Jenkins at Wrigley, and by the end of the inning he was an Expo. Montreal was short of players in Philadelphia and asked him to hurry. He packed, realized he had left his glove in the dugout, went back for it anyway, made his flight, and reached Veterans Stadium mid-game. In the seventh he singled off Steve Carlton. Two hits, two teams, two cities, two future Hall of Famers, one day. Nobody has done it since.

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Germany Schaefer Runs Backward