MADISON, Wis. — A Madison man has made a cameo in the hit Apple TV+ show "Ted Lasso" — thanks to a stunt he pulled more than 70 years ago.
WATCH: Madison man's 1953 baseball stunt lands him in 'Ted Lasso'
Bill Stokes, a U.S. Army veteran and University of Wisconsin graduate, was 21 years old when he snuck into the 1953 Major League Baseball All-Star Game. A cameraman invited him to pose as a member of a movie newsreel crew, which got him onto the ball field where he met some legendary players — including Satchel Paige.
"There were news photographers around, and one of them shouted, 'One more, Satch.' Satchel Paige turned the page and autographed the program again," Stokes said.
The surviving film from that day eventually made its way into "Ted Lasso."
Stokes, now 95 years old, hasn't let the fame slow him down. The journalist and writer continues to find new stories to add to his own.
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