The man was Herman Schaefer and he was well known as a baseball trickster and tactician during his years of Major League Baseball from 1901 – 1918. He played with the Chicago Cubs, Detroit Tigers, Washington Senators, Newark Pepper, New York Yankees, and Cleveland Indians.

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During a game in 1911, Schaefer was standing on first with a teammate on third when he attempted the double steal hoping to draw a throw from the catcher and allow his teammate to score from third. The catcher didn’t make the throw.

Before the next pitch, Schaefer took off again, but this time running back toward first.

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According to Detroit outfielder, Davey Jones, the play was successful, the catcher threw and runner came home safe.

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Two years after Schaefer left the game and following his death, rule 7.08i was established by MLB in 1920 which 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.”