| Pee Wee Reese | |
|---|---|
 Reese with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1956 | |
| Shortstop | |
| Born:(1918-07-23)July 23, 1918 Ekron, Kentucky, U.S. | |
| Died: August 14, 1999(1999-08-14) (aged 81) Louisville, Kentucky, U.S. | |
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| April 23, 1940, for the Brooklyn Dodgers | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| September 26, 1958, for the Los Angeles Dodgers | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .269 |
| Hits | 2,170 |
| Home runs | 126 |
| Runs batted in | 885 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
| Member of the National | |
 Baseball Hall of Fame | |
| Induction | 1984 |
| Vote | Veterans Committee |
Harold Peter Henry "Pee Wee"Reese (July 23, 1918 – August 14, 1999) was an American professionalbaseball player. He played inMajor League Baseball as ashortstop for theBrooklyn / Los Angeles Dodgers from 1940 to 1958.[1] A ten-timeAll-Star, Reese contributed to sevenNational League championships for the Dodgers and was inducted into theBaseball Hall of Fame in1984. Reese is also famous for his support of his teammateJackie Robinson, the firstblack player in the major leagues' modern era, especially in Robinson's difficult first years, most notably when he put his arm around Robinson during a pre-game warmup in front of a heckling crowd.
Reese's nickname originated in his childhood, as he was a championmarbles player (a "pee wee" is a small marble). Reese was born inEkron,Meade County, Kentucky, and raised there until he was nearly eight years old, when his family moved toLouisville. In high school, Reese was so small that he did not play baseball until his senior year, at which time he weighed only 120 pounds and played just six games as a second baseman.[2] He graduated fromduPont Manual High School in 1935, where he played for a legendary coach, Ralph Kimmel. He worked as a cable splicer for the Louisville phone company, only playing amateur baseball in a church league. When Reese's team reached the league championship, the minor leagueLouisville Colonels allowed them to play the championship game on their field. Reese impressed Colonels owner Cap Neal, who signed him to a contract for a $200 bonus.[2] While playing for the Colonels, he was affectionately referred to by his teammates as "The Little Colonel."[3]
By 1938, Reese was the Colonels' regular shortstop and one of the top prospects in the minors;Boston Red Sox farm directorBilly Evans was so impressed by Reese that he recommended the Red Sox buy the team. Evans and ownerTom Yawkey both knew that Boston's regular shortstop,Joe Cronin, was nearing the end of his career.[2][4]
However, Cronin was also the team's manager, and still thought of himself as a regular shortstop. When Yawkey sent Cronin to Louisville to scout Reese, Cronin realized that he was scouting his own replacement. Cronin deliberately downplayed Reese's talent and suggested Reese be traded. It took a while to find a buyer, since the other teams assumed something had to be wrong with Reese if the Red Sox wanted to get rid of him. However, on July 18, 1939, Reese was sent to Brooklyn for $35,000 and four players to be named later. This trade is now considered one of the most lopsided deals in baseball history. As it turned out, Cronin was only a part-time player after 1941.[4]
Reese stayed in Louisville for the rest of the1939 season, and was called up to Brooklyn in time for the1940 season. In an ironic twist, he walked into a situation where his manager was also the regular shortstop—in this case,Leo Durocher. Unlike Cronin, however, Durocher was willing to give up his spot in the lineup to Reese.
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Reese's rookie season in1940 was curtailed by a broken heel bone that limited him to 84 games in what had looked to be a promising season (.272batting average with 58runs scored). He had a thrilling moment that year, hitting agrand slam in the bottom of the ninthinning to beat theNew York Giants. In 1941, he hit .229 and led the league with 47errors. Even playing in theWorld Series that year was a forgettable experience for Reese, as he batted .200 and made three errors in the five-game Yankee win. It was in the 1942 campaign that he truly established himself, making the National LeagueAll-Star team for the first of ten consecutive years and leading National League shortstops in both putouts andassists.
Like many players of his era, he missed three seasons due to military service. Reese enlisted in theUnited States Navy in 1943 and shipped out to fight in thePacific theater of World War II. He played on theAiea Naval Hospital baseball team while stationed in Hawaii. With Reese in the service, the Dodgers languished, finishing no better than third place and as poorly as 42 games out (in seventh place) in1943. Upon his return in1946, Reese immediately righted the ship as the Dodgers battled theSt. Louis Cardinals in a tight pennant race. The two teams ended the season tied for first place and met in the1946 National League tie-breaker series.[5] It was the first playofftiebreaker in Major League Baseball history.[6] The Cardinals won the first two games of the best-of-three-game series to capture the National League pennant.[5]
In1947, some Dodgers players began circulating a petition when word spread that Brooklyn intended to bringJackie Robinson up from their farm team in Montreal. The players assumed that Reese, who grew up inLouisville, Kentucky, would sign. According to sportswriterRoger Kahn, who later became close friends with Reese, the petition essentially said, "If you bring up the nigger, trade us. We won't play." However, the popular Reese refused to sign the petition and it died.[7] When a sportswriter asked Reese if he felt threatened by Robinson taking his position of shortstop, Reese simply responded, "If he can take my job, he's entitled to it."
Reese was one of the few welcoming to Robinson, who endured horrible abuse from the crowds and fellow players, including pitchers who threw directly at his head and players who berated him with racial slurs. After spending a day with the Dodgers in 1947, sportswriterJimmy Cannon concluded that, "Robinson is the loneliest man I have ever seen in sports."[7][8]
When Robinson joined the Dodgers in 1947 and traveled with them during their firstroad trip, he was heckled by fans inCincinnati. During pre-game infield practice atCrosley Field (the then-home of theCincinnati Reds), Reese, the captain of the team, went over to Robinson, engaged him in conversation, and put his arm around his shoulder in a gesture of support that silenced the crowd.[7] (According to a 2013 article onESPN, Brian Cronin argues that the incident actually occurred in 1948 in Boston.)[8]
In response to Dodgers teammatePete Reiser's comment about how democracy technically means that everybody's equal, Reese said "Well that's true, but Jackie is catching special hell because he's the only Black player. Maybe we ought to do something to make it more equal.” According to American journalistLester Rodney, the moment of solidarity between Robinson and Reese in Cincinnati sparked a gradual decline in vile fan behavior by 1948. Rodney reported "You began to get that feeling that the racists knew they were in the minority, and they may still be racist to the core but at least their mouths were shut! And you never heard them again."[9]
The gesture is depicted in a bronze sculpture of Reese and Robinson, created by sculptorWilliam Behrends, which was placed atMCU Park in Brooklyn and unveiled on November 1, 2005. In a 2005 article,New York Times columnistBob Herbert highlighted Kahn's statement that Reese's gesture to Jackie Robinson is "Baseball's finest moment."[7]
Throughout that difficult first year in the major leagues, Reese helped keep Robinson's morale up amid all the abuse. As the 1947 season wore on, there was tacit acceptance of the fact that blacks were now playing big league ball and were probably there to stay. Reese became good friends with Robinson and was able to use humor to alleviate some of the tension and make Robinson laugh. Robinson still got pitches thrown at him, but, as Reese recounted to Kahn, "I told him, 'You know Jack, some of these guys are throwing at you because you're black. But others are doing it just because they plain don't like you.'" His role in nurturing Jackie Robinson aside, 1947 was a superb year for Reese, as he batted .284 with a league-leading 104walks. He also had a career bestslugging average of .426. Their rapport soon led shortstop Reese and second baseman Robinson to become one of the most effective defensive pairs in the sport's history. The friendship between Reese and Robinson is prominent in Roger Kahn's classic 1972 work,The Boys of Summer.[7]
The reason behind Reese's passive attitude towards race is not entirely known, though some stories suggest that he was taught about the evils of racism at a young age when his father took him to a tree where alynching had occurred.
When Robinson died in 1972, Reese was one of the pallbearers at his funeral.[7]
Pee Wee helped make my boyhood dream come true to play in the majors, theWorld Series. When Pee Wee reached out to Jackie, all of us in theNegro League smiled and said it was the first time that a white guy had accepted us. When I finally got up to Brooklyn, I went to Pee Wee and said, "Black people love you. When you touched Jackie, you touched all of us." With Pee Wee, it was No. 1 on his uniform and No. 1 in our hearts.
In1949, Reese had his only league lead in a significant batting category, topping all National Leaguers with 132 runs scored. The Dodgers won the pennant again that year, but the Yankees continued to dominate in theWorld Series, winning in five games despite Reese's .316 Series average and team-leading five hits.
Reese became the Dodgers' team captain in1950. In1951, he had his career high inRBI, with 84. In1952, he led the National League in stolen bases with 30. That year, Reese had his best Series, batting .345 with 10 hits, one home run and four RBI. In Game 3, Robinson and Reese pulled off adouble steal; both later scored on apassed ball.
The1953 Dodgers won the National League pennant with a mark of 105–49 for a .682 winning percentage. Reese was a mainstay for the team, with 108 runs scored and a .271 batting average. The Yankees, however, again defeated the Dodgers in the1953 World Series, four games to two. After the season, the Dodgers offered Reese the position ofmanager; when Reese declined the promotion, the Dodgers hiredWalter Alston, who remained manager for more than two decades.
In1954, Reese batted .309, the only season he hit over .300. Though 36 years old, he was still going strong during the1955 season, scoring 99 runs. In that year, the Dodgers won their firstWorld Series. Reese had two RBI in Game 2. In Game 7, he singled and scored an insurance run. While on the field, he doubledGil McDougald off first base afterSandy Amorós made a sensational catch of aYogi Berra fly ball in left field and relayed the throw to Reese to help preserve the victory.
In1957, Reese yielded his starting role to another black ballplayer,Charlie Neal. As the Dodgers moved west in1958, Reese joined them as a backupinfielder, retiring that year after batting .224 in 59 games. He coached for the Dodgers in the1959 season, earning a secondWorld Series ring.
In a 16-year major league career, Reese played in 2,166games, accumulating 2,170hits in 8,058at bats for a .269 career batting average along with 126 home runs, 885 runs batted in and anon-base percentage of .366. He retired with a .962 fielding percentage. In 44 World Series games, he batted .272 (46-for-169) with 20 runs, 2 home runs and 16 RBI.
Other than his Navy time between 1943 and 1945, Reese had no breaks in service and played at least 140 games in every year from1941 to1956. Consistently productive, he scored at least 75 runs from1942 through 1956 and amassed 1,338 lifetime, best of any Dodger. Though he never won aMost Valuable Player Award, eight times he ranked in the top ten of the Most Valuable Player Award balloting. He also was a home run threat during a time when shortstops seldom hithome runs. Reese amassed 252stolen bases in a period when steals were not an integral part of the game. Defensively, he was an outstanding gloveman, leading National League shortstops four times inputouts and ranking in the top 10 all-time in putouts anddouble plays.
One of the most popular players with both his teammates and the fans, the "Little Colonel" was the Dodgers' team captain, and he, not the manager, brought out the line-up card at the start of their games. Reese andElston Howard have the dubious distinction of playing on the most losing World Series teams (six each). Reese's only World Series win as a player, with the Dodgers in the1955 World Series, occurred against Howard'sNew York Yankees during Howard's first World Series. No other non-Yankee ballplayer has appeared in that many World Series for the same team.
Following his retirement as a player, Reese enjoyed considerable success as a baseballplay-by-play announcer andcolor commentator. He calledGame of the Week telecasts onCBS from 1960 to 1965 (withDizzy Dean) and forNBC from 1966 to 1968 (withCurt Gowdy). Reese also broadcast the1967 and1968 World Series forNBC Radio, calledCincinnati Reds telecasts in 1969–1970, and served as a part-time television analyst for theMontreal Expos in 1972.
In his later years, Reese was employed atHillerich & Bradsby, makers of Louisville Slugger baseball bats. He battledprostate andlung cancer during the final years of his life, and died on August 14, 1999, at his Louisville home. He is interred at Resthaven Memorial Park Cemetery in Louisville.
In 1984, Reese was inducted into theNational Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum along withRick Ferrell. On his entry, his support of Jackie Robinson was cited as well as his playing performance as a testament to his worthiness of the Hall.
A statue of Reese was erected in front of the main entrance ofLouisville Slugger Field in 2000[11] and his number was retired by theLouisville Bats.[12]
Astatue of Reese and Jackie Robinson was erected in Brooklyn, New York in November 2005, in front of KeySpan Park (nowMaimonides Park) where theBrooklyn Cyclones (high-A affiliate of theNew York Mets) play. Their widows both attended the ceremony for the statue which memorializes the gesture of Reese and his teammates overcoming the racial barrier.[13]
Reese was presented with the "SABR Hero of Baseball Award" at theSociety for American Baseball Research's June 1997 national convention atLouisville, Kentucky.
In 2013, theBob Feller Act of Valor Award honored Reese as one of 37 Baseball Hall of Fame members for his service in the United States Navy during World War II.[14]
Reese married Dorothy "Dottie" Walton on March 29, 1942; she outlived him by nearly 13 years. They had two children. Dottie died on March 7, 2012, just 22 days away from what would have been the couple's Platinum wedding anniversary. His son, Mark, has made sports documentaries in Los Angeles over the past 25 years.
| Preceded by | Lead color commentator,Major League Baseball on NBC 1966–1968 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
