On March 14, four days after receiving his new artificial leg, Shepard arrived at the Nats' spring training complex. Only as Shepard was getting dressed did the players and Bluege realize he was an amputee. When he walked to the mound, it was nearly impossible to tell he wore an artifical leg, and when he threw, he threw hard. It was obvious he was serious about playing. Soon, reporters, photographers, and newsreel cameramen were overrunning the camp to see this twenty-four-year-old war veteran amputee pitch.

One day a newsreel cameraman asked Shepard if he could field bunts. "Sure," said Shepard. "Just let me know when you're ready." Everyone stopped and watched as Shepard pitched to backup catcher Al Evans, who bunted the ball six feet in front of the plate. Shepard came in, scooped it up, pivoted as left-handers must, and fired to first. Then he did it again. The Washington players were abuzz. Bluege, in a choked-up voice, yelled, "Atta boy, Shep."

Shepard's artificial leg did not affect his play much. "You pitch off your back foot," he explains, "and I was left-handed and it was my right leg that was off. So I was coming down on the right leg. And as far as batting, well, I batted left-handed, and Mel Ott could have had his right leg off and still hit 510 home runs." The fact that the amputation was below his knee, not above, also helped his agility.

Shepard became an immediate celebrity and his workout was featured in newsreels across the country. The Sporting News called him "The baseball man of the hour -- or the afternoon or evening." He became the only left-handed batting-practice pitcher for the Nats that spring, and also worked out at first base and took batting practice.

"One day after our workout, I was over at Secretary Patterson's office," Shepard remembers, "and Larry MacPhail of the Yankees, who was on his staff, came in. He says, 'Bert, we got a lot of amputees over at Atlantic City. How about coming over tomorrow and work out with the Yankees? If the Senators don't sign you, I will.'"

Shepard went to Atlantic City, but unbeknownst to him, Griffith had scheduled him to pitch for Washington that same day. When Griffith discovered that Shepard had gone with MacPhail, he exploded.

In an effort to defuse the situation, Patterson's office told Griffith that the trip had been for the morale of the soldiers and that it had been their idea, not MacPhail's. Satisfied, Griffith quickly signed Shepard as a coach, but gave every indication that the young man would get a chance to pitch or pinch hit in a game during the 1945 season. The Washington Post quoted Griffith as saying, "We certainly welcome Lieutenant Shepard to the club.This boy is a symbol of the courage of American youths. The same spirit that carried him into combat with our enemies is with him in baseball. He believes in himself and we believe in him."

That spring, Shepard pitched in several exhibition games, especially against various armed forces teams, whose lineups were often more formidable than those of the wartime big-league teams. The ex-fighter pilot was heavily publicized to inspire other disabled veterans returning from the war. In one game, when he pitched two innings against Fort Story, he gave up a run in the eighth inning, but struck out the side in the ninth. Against the New London Naval Base, one of the better armed forces teams, he went five innings, allowing only one run on three hits against a lineup that included Yogi Berra.

Although anxious to go on the active roster, Shepard was pleased to be where he was. "I was so happy to be with a major-league ball club. I was pitching batting practice almost every day, so I was gradually developing myself all the time. I used to take infield at first base. After Joe Kuhel would take the first two rounds, I would take the next two. And I've had people tell me that they didn't know when we changed. So that gave me good practice as far as the footwork was concerned. I bided my time. I was just as happy as the devil to be there."

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