Tulsa Daily World · Tulsa, Oklahoma · 1915

Schaefer stole second and then went back and stole first

Hugh Fullerton named the greatest game he ever saw and cartoonist W. R. Allman drew the evidence: a flooded outfield, two fielders catching one fly, eleven players on the field and Germany Schaefer stealing first base from second.

Sportswriter Hugh Fullerton picked the greatest baseball game he ever saw, an August 1911 meeting between Washington and the White Sox, and the Tulsa Daily World had cartoonist W. R. Allman sketch the high spots. The high spots include a “No Fishing” sign in the outfield, Doc White against Walter Johnson, a fielder announcing “I got it” from inside a geyser, and Harry Lord diving into the Washington bench after a foul ball.

The panel that earns the frame is Germany Schaefer, who “stole second and then went back and stole first,” drawn sprinting the wrong way with the bag under his arm and an “I’m a crook” grin. Baseball eventually wrote a rule against running the bases in reverse, and this game is the reason everybody cites.

It ends the only way it could: “Washington protested the game.” A fan in the last panel asks what kind of game has eleven players on the field. No answer is recorded.