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Herman A. "Germany" Schaefer (February 4, 1876 – May 16, 1919) was a
second baseman In baseball and softball, second baseman, abbreviated 2B, is a fielding position in the Infielder, infield, between Baseball field#Second base, second and Baseball field#First base, first base. The second baseman often possesses quick hands and f ...
,
first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...
and
third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the Baseball scorekeep ...
in
Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...
who played 15 seasons with the
Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...
,
Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...
, Washington Senators,
Newark Peppers The Newark Peppers, originally known as the Indianapolis Hoosiers, were a Federal League baseball team from 1913–1915. The Federal League (FL), founded in 1913, was a third major league in 1914 and 1915. History The Federal League began as an ...
,
New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...
, and
Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. Since , the team ...
.


Biography

Born William Herman Schaefer in the South Side of
Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
, to German immigrant parents, he played in two
World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB). It has been contested since between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winning team, determined through a best- ...
with the Tigers. During the season, Schaefer and Red Killefer were traded by the Tigers to the Senators for Jim Delahanty. In 1,150 career games, Schaefer batted .257 with 9 home runs and 201 stolen bases. Schaefer was known as both a baseball trickster and a tactician in the early years of 20th century baseball. Well liked, stories of his exploits dot both the memories of his contemporaries and the newspaper reports of the time. One of his most famous exploits was stealing first base, which was perhaps recalled in Lawrence Ritter's '' The Glory of Their Times'' by Detroit outfielder Davy Jones. With runners on first and third, a common ploy in baseball at the time was an attempted double steal, in which the runner heading from first (in this case Schaefer) ran for second, hoping to draw a throw from the catcher as the runner on third tried to scamper home. The catcher did not throw the first time, inspiring Schaefer to steal first base in reverse and then attempt the double steal once more on the following pitch. It worked in Jones' recollection although factual evidence of this is lacking. On August 4, 1911, Schaefer tried the same stunt again, this time for the Washington Senators, inspiring the
Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...
' manager, Hugh Duffy, to come out of the dugout to protest. With the chaos on the field, Clyde Milan attempted to steal home, where he was thrown out. This event was recorded by both ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
'' and the ''
Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...
'' on the following day. Although it was not passed until 1920, after Schaefer's death, a baseball rule (currently 5.09(b)(10)) states that a player is out if "After he has acquired legal possession of a base, he runs the bases in reverse order for the purpose of confusing the defense or making a travesty of the game. The umpire shall immediately call 'Time' and declare the runner out". It is often said that it was passed because of Schaefer's thefts. Though a clown on the field, Schaefer had a very sound baseball mind. He also made many friends throughout the baseball world, including the irascible
Ty Cobb Tyrus Raymond Cobb (December 18, 1886 – July 17, 1961), nicknamed "the Georgia Peach", was an American professional baseball center fielder. A native of rural Narrows, Georgia, Cobb played 24 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). He spent ...
. Schaefer bestowed upon
Walter Johnson Walter Perry Johnson (November 6, 1887 – December 10, 1946), nicknamed "Barney" and "the Big Train", was an American professional baseball player and Manager (baseball), manager. He played his entire 21-year baseball career in Major League Ba ...
his nickname "Barney" at a traffic stop, claiming that Johnson was
Barney Oldfield Berna Eli "Barney" Oldfield (January 29, 1878 – October 4, 1946) was a pioneer American racing driver. His name was "synonymous with speed in the first two decades of the 20th century". He was the winner of the inaugural List of American ope ...
, the racecar driver, a stunt that got him out of a speeding ticket. Schaefer modified his own moniker, "Germany", replacing it with "Liberty" after the United States declared war on Germany in 1917.Rounding Third
compilation of baseball columns by Hugh Jennings, published 1925; archived in ''The Detroit Tigers Reader'', edited by Tom Stanton; published 2005 by
University of Michigan Press The University of Michigan Press is a university press that is a part of Michigan Publishing at the University of Michigan Library. It publishes 170 new titles each year in the humanities and social sciences. Titles from the press have earn ...
"Epoch in Baseball When Liberty Schaefer Went From Majors to Minors"
in the '' Philadelphia Public Ledger'' (via
Chronicling America ''Chronicling America'' is an open access, open source newspaper database and companion website. It is produced by the United States National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP), a partnership between the Library of Congress and the National Endowm ...
), published June 4, 1918; page 12
Schaefer was the player representative present at the meeting held in preparation for the 1907 World Series between Schaefer's team, the Tigers, and the
Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...
. The others in the meeting, discussing ground rules, players' pool, etc., were "Garry" Herrman, owner of the
Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. The Reds compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Divisi ...
and head of the Commission; the league presidents
Ban Johnson Byron Bancroft "Ban" Johnson (January 5, 1864 – March 28, 1931) was an American executive in professional baseball who served as the founder and first president of the American League (AL). Johnson developed the AL—a descendant of th ...
and
Harry Pulliam Harry Clay Pulliam (February 9, 1869 – July 29, 1909) was an American baseball executive who served as the sixth President of the National League (baseball), National League. He served from 1903 until his death in 1909. He was president during ...
, the managers
Hughie Jennings Hugh Ambrose Jennings (April 2, 1869 – February 1, 1928) was an American professional baseball player, coach and manager from 1891 to 1925. Jennings was a leader, both as a batter and as a shortstop, with the Baltimore Orioles teams that won N ...
and Frank Chance, and the two umpires, Hank O'Day and Jack Sheridan. Schaefer asked "Is a tie game a legal game?" It was supposedly a trivial question, but Schaefer made a point: If there is a tie game in the Series, do the players share in its gate receipts? After a short discussion with Johnson and Pulliam, Herrman answered, 'The players' pool will include receipts from any tie games.' As luck would have it, the first game was a 12-inning, 3–3 tie, called due to darkness. The players shared in the receipts of all five games (the Cubs won the next four in a row). But a month later the Commission changed its ruling: The players share in the receipts of the first four games only, ties or no ties. Jimmy McAleer, Schaefer's manager with the Washington Senators, took him on several
barnstorming Barnstorming was a form of entertainment in which stunt pilots performed tricks individually or in groups that were called flying circuses. Devised to "impress people with the skill of pilots and the sturdiness of planes," it became popular in t ...
all star trips, and with an all star team posing as the
New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...
he traveled around the world in 1913, playing a variety of positions and entertaining crowds and his teammates alike. In
Ceylon Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...
, Schaefer even struck up a kinship with tea magnate Sir Thomas Lipton. Schaefer was a pioneer of baseball clowning, and his
vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...
act with teammate Charley O'Leary was inspiration for the
MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...
musical ''Take Me Out To The Ball Game'' starring
Gene Kelly Eugene Curran Kelly (August 23, 1912 – February 2, 1996) was an American dancer, actor, singer, director and choreographer. He was known for his energetic and athletic dancing style and sought to create a new form of American dance accessibl ...
and
Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Honorific nicknames in popular music, Nicknamed the "Chairman of the Board" and "Ol' Blue Eyes", he is regarded as one of the Time 100: The Most I ...
. He also teamed with
Nick Altrock Nicholas Altrock (September 15, 1876 – January 20, 1965) was an American professional baseball player and Coach (baseball), coach. He played in the major leagues as a left-handed pitcher between 1898 and 1919. After the 1919 season he continu ...
, who later took baseball clowning to legendary heights with Al Schacht. Among Schaefer's legendary antics are diversionary tactics with umbrellas, raincoats and galoshes, to get games canceled on account of the weather. In one story he wears the outfit out onto the playing field, in another he wears it to the plate during a drizzle, but when the umpire sends him back to the dugout to take it off, the rains begin to pour, forcing the umpire to indeed call the game. An account of Schaefer wearing a raincoat onto the field occurs in the July 4, 1906, edition of ''The Washington Post''. It is not known whether he wore it on offense or defense. Schaefer once verbally "called" his shot before hitting a two-run home run on June 24, 1906 to put the Tigers up 3–2 against the Chicago White Sox in the top of the 9th. In 1919, a little over a year after Schaefer played his last game, he died in
Saranac Lake, New York Saranac Lake is a village in the state of New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 4,887, making it the largest community by population in the Adirondack Park.U.S. Census Bureau, 2020 Report, Saranac Lake village, New ...
. Several of his baseball contemporaries died of
tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...
at the sanitarium there, and that disease also claimed Schaefer. While on a scouting trip to
Lake Placid, New York Lake Placid is a Administrative divisions of New York#Village, village in the Adirondack Mountains in Essex County, New York, Essex County, New York (state), New York, United States. In 2020, its population was 2,205. The village of Lake Placid ...
, Schaefer suffered a fatal hemorrhage complicating his pulmonary tuberculosis. He died at 9:30 AM on May 16, 1919, at age 43, according to the death certificate signed by John A. Farrell, M.D. of Saranac Lake. He was buried at St. Boniface Catholic Cemetery in Chicago.


See also

*
List of Major League Baseball career stolen bases leaders In baseball statistics, a stolen base is credited to a baserunning, baserunner when he successfully advances to the next base while the pitcher is throwing the ball to home plate. Under Rule 5.06 of Major League Baseball's (MLB) Official Rules ...


References


External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schaefer, Germany American people of German descent Major League Baseball second basemen Baseball players from Chicago Chicago Cubs players Detroit Tigers players Washington Senators (1901–1960) players 20th-century American sportsmen Newark Peppers players New York Yankees players Cleveland Indians players New York Yankees coaches American vaudeville performers 1876 births 1919 deaths St. Paul Saints (AA) players Colorado Springs Millionaires players Milwaukee Brewers (minor league) players 20th-century deaths from tuberculosis Tuberculosis deaths in New York (state)