The last man to steal first base.

Germany Schaefer stole first base. On Aug. 4, 1911, playing for the Washington Senators, Schaefer stole second base conventionally, hoping to draw a throw from the catcher so a teammate could steal home. The catcher didn't throw, so on the next pitch Schaefer ran back to first.

That was legal at the time, but rule 7.08i now forbids a player to run the bases in reverse order "for the purpose of confusing the defense or making a travesty of the game."

From http://www.futilitycloset.com/2008/11/25/clockwise/ , a great site in case you haven't heard of it before.

about 3 years ago davethebutcher 1 comment 0 recs |

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Germany Schaefer...

pulled a lot of great antics on and off the field. He was responsible in 1907 for asking if the players would get a share of receipts for a game ending in a tie. When the powers that be agreed little did they realize that there would indeed be a tie game in the Series! He had many antics and you can read about a few of them if you put his name in the search engine at Wikipedia.

People ask me what I do in winter when there's no baseball. I'll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring.-Rogers Hornsby

by thegashousegang on Nov 26, 2008 8:58 PM EST reply actions