# Bert Shepard > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Bert_Shepard > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Bert_Shepard.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bert_Shepard > Source revision: 1324321718 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{short description|American baseball player (1920–2008)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=June 2024}} {{Infobox baseball biography |name=Bert Shepard |image=Bert Shepard.JPG |position=[Pitcher](/source/Pitcher) |bats=Left |throws=Left |birth_date={{birth date|1920|6|28}} |birth_place=[Dana, Indiana](/source/Dana%2C_Indiana), U.S. |death_date={{death date and age|2008|6|16|1920|6|28}} |death_place=[Highland, California](/source/Highland%2C_California), U.S. |debutleague = MLB |debutdate=August 4 |debutyear=1945 |debutteam=Washington Senators |finalleague = MLB |finaldate=August 4 |finalyear=1945 |finalteam=Washington Senators |stat1label=[Win–loss record](/source/Win%E2%80%93loss_record_(pitching)) |stat1value=0–0 |stat2label=[Earned run average](/source/Earned_run_average) |stat2value=1.69 |stat3label=[Strikeout](/source/Strikeout)s |stat3value=2 |teams= *[Washington Senators](/source/Washington_Senators_(1901%E2%80%9360)) ({{mlby|1945}}) }} '''Bert Robert Shepard''' (June 28, 1920 – June 16, 2008) was an American left-handed [pitcher](/source/pitcher) in [Major League Baseball](/source/Major_League_Baseball) who pitched in one game for the [Washington Senators](/source/Washington_Senators_(1901%E2%80%9360)) in 1945 after having had his right leg [amputated](/source/amputation) after his [fighter plane](/source/fighter_plane) was shot down in Germany during World War II while he was serving as a pilot in the [Army Air Forces](/source/United_States_Army_Air_Forces)."Milestones: Bert Shephard". ''[Time](/source/Time_(magazine))''. July 7, 2008. p. 18. ==Biography== Born in [Dana, Indiana](/source/Dana%2C_Indiana), the 5'11", 185 lb left-hander taught himself to walk and then to pitch with an artificial leg while confined in the German [POW](/source/POW) camp ''Stalag IX C(b)'' in city [Meiningen](/source/Meiningen).Baseball in Wartime, ''When Baseball Went to War''. Society for American Baseball Research, 55th Fighter Group Association The Canadian doctor and prisoner Don Errey produced the prosthesis for Bert. Shepard had been gunned down east of [Hamburg](/source/Hamburg) on his 34th mission as a [P-38](/source/P-38) fighter pilot; his life was saved by the doctor Lieutenant Ladislaus Loidl of the German Army. On February 21, 1945, Shepard was back in the United States and hoping to resume his pitching career. Prior to the war, he had pitched for minor leagues all across the country, including the [Anaheim Aces](/source/Anaheim_Aces) in 1941. During [spring training](/source/spring_training) in 1945, he impressed Senators owner [Clark Griffith](/source/Clark_Griffith) enough to be hired as a [pitching coach](/source/coach_(baseball)). He pitched exhibition games and batting practice as well as one regulation game, making him the first man with an artificial leg to pitch in a major league baseball game. On August 4, 1945, Shepard got the call to enter in the fourth inning of a home game in which the Senators were well behind the [Boston Red Sox](/source/Boston_Red_Sox). It was game two of Washington's fourth consecutive [doubleheader](/source/doubleheader_(baseball)), with a fifth scheduled the next day as well. Shepard made headlines not only for being in the game itself, but also for his {{frac|5|1|3}} [inning](/source/inning)s of impressive relief, allowing only three [hits](/source/hit_(baseball)) and one [run](/source/run_(baseball)). He struck out the first batter he faced, [Catfish Metkovich](/source/Catfish_Metkovich). The final score was Red Sox 15, Senators 4.Weintraub, Robert (2013) ''The Victory Season: The End of World War II and the Birth of Baseball's Golden Age''. New York: Little Brown and Company, pages 137–138 The game of August 4, 1945, was notable for two other events as well. Shepard came in to relieve teammate [Joe Cleary](/source/Joe_Cleary), whose surrender of seven runs on five hits and three walks in one-third of an inning in his only big-league appearance earned him the highest lifetime ERA — 189.00 — of any pitcher in Major League Baseball history to have recorded at least one out. Also, [outfielder](/source/outfielder) [Tom McBride](/source/Tom_McBride_(baseball)) tied a major league record with 6 [runs batted in](/source/run_batted_in) in the fourth inning, which was pitched by Cleary. In between games of a doubleheader on August 31, Shepard received the [Distinguished Flying Cross](/source/Distinguished_Flying_Cross_(United_States)) and the [Air Medal](/source/Air_Medal) for his service in World War II. He later went on to be a player/manager in the minor leagues until 1954. He was a key participant in the National Amps baseball teams of former servicemen with amputations secondary to war injuries. After retiring from baseball, Shepard worked for [IBM](/source/IBM) and [Hughes Aircraft](/source/Hughes_Aircraft) as a [safety engineer](/source/safety_engineer). Shepard won the U.S. amputee [golf](/source/golf) championship in 1968 and 1971. Shepard died at age 87 in [Highland, California](/source/Highland%2C_California). He was buried at [Riverside National Cemetery](/source/Riverside_National_Cemetery) in [Riverside, California](/source/Riverside%2C_California).[http://www.baseballsgreatestsacrifice.com/wounded_in_combat/shepard-bert.html Baseball's Greatest Sacrifice] ==References== ==Further reading== *Dennis Snelling: ''A Glimpse of Fame'', McFarland & Company, Jefferson N.C., 1993, pp. 115–134 *Richard Tellis: ''Once Around The Bases'', Triumph Books, Chicago, 1998, pp. 107–120. ==External links== {{Portal|Biography}} *[https://archive.today/20070422043741/http://www.garybed.co.uk/player_biographies/shepard_bert.htm Baseball in Wartime] {{Baseballstats|br=s/shepabe01}} *[https://web.archive.org/web/20061006003903/http://www.baseballlibrary.com/baseballlibrary/excerpts/once_around_the_bases2.stm BaseballLibrary] – Once Around the Bases *[http://baseballguru.com/jholway/analysisjholway22.html Baseball Guru] – Bert Shepard and the Missing Foot *[https://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/20/sports/baseball/20shepard.html ''New York Times'' obituary, June 19, 2008] {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Shepard, Bert}} Category:1920 births Category:2008 deaths Category:American amputees Category:American disabled sportspeople Category:Sportspeople with limb difference Category:Anaheim Aces players Category:Baseball players from Indiana Category:Bisbee Bees players Category:Burials at Riverside National Cemetery Category:Chattanooga Lookouts players Category:Decatur Commodores players Category:Duluth Dukes players Category:Hot Springs Bathers players Category:Jeanerette Blues players Category:Major League Baseball pitchers Category:Military personnel from Indiana Category:Modesto Reds players Category:Mount Airy Graniteers players Category:Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United States) Category:St. Augustine Saints players Category:Shot-down aviators Category:United States Army Air Forces officers Category:United States Army Air Forces pilots of World War II Category:Tampa Smokers players Category:Washington Senators (1901–1960) coaches Category:Washington Senators (1901–1960) players Category:20th-century American sportsmen Category:Washington Senators (1901–60) scouts Category:Williston Oilers players Category:Wisconsin Rapids White Sox players Category:World War II prisoners of war held by Germany Category:Baseball players with disabilities --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Bert Shepard](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bert_Shepard) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bert_Shepard?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.