Jimmy Piersall Runs the Bases Backwards

On June 23, 1963, Jimmy Piersall of the New York Mets hit the 100th home run of his career, a shot off Dallas Green of the Philadelphia Phillies. He then ran the bases in the correct order but facing backwards, trotting from first to second to third to home while looking at where he'd been instead of where he was going. The crowd loved it. Commissioner Ford Frick did not. A rule was quickly passed prohibiting players from making "a travesty of the game."

The Mets released Piersall on July 27, about a month later. He was 33 and had been in the major leagues for parts of 14 seasons.

What made the story more than a baseball blooper was Piersall's history. In 1952, as a 22-year-old outfielder for the Boston Red Sox, he suffered a mental breakdown that led to his hospitalization at a psychiatric facility in Danvers, Massachusetts. He was diagnosed with what is now understood as bipolar disorder. After his treatment, he returned to the Red Sox and resumed his career.

In 1955, Piersall published an autobiography called Fear Strikes Out, one of the first books by a professional athlete to openly discuss mental illness. It became a 1957 film starring Anthony Perkins. The book and film made Piersall one of the most recognized athletes in America, though he was recognized as much for his diagnosis as his play. He won two Gold Glove Awards and played 17 seasons in the majors.

Piersall was complicated. He was brilliant in the outfield, unpredictable in the clubhouse, and brutally honest in public. His backward home run was not a breakdown. It was a celebration, planned in advance, executed with precision, and remembered long after anyone forgot the final score.