Pee Wee Reese

Played For
Brooklyn Dodgers (1940-1957)
Los Angeles Dodgers (1958)

All-Time Rankings
Pee Wee Reese ranks #16 among the Top 50 all-time at SS. Rankings ⇒

Best Season: 1949
Thirty years old when the season began, Reese was one of the best shortstops in baseball, and fastest. He stole 26 bases while also hitting 16 home runs. He led the NL with 132 runs scored. He drove in 73 and walked 116 times for a .396 OBP. He played every game of the schedule and led league shortstops in fielding. The Dodgers lost the World Series to the Yankees (of course), but Pee Wee led his club with a .316 batting average and six hits in the battle.

Factoids
Pee Wee Reese finished in the top ten in NL MVP voting eight times. Phil Rizzuto did it just once, when he won the award in 1950.

Full Bio
Reese was a scrawny kid when he reported to his first Dodger camp in 1940. By 1955 he was a veteran of the war, the team captain, and a World Champion. He was the team leader who helped pave the way for the acceptance of Jackie Robinson in 1947. Several times Reese stood next to Robinson when hateful fans and opposing players hurled slurs and worse at the first black ballplayer.

Reese was born in Kentucky, and he became one of the most popular players in Louisville baseball history. Later the Dodgers bought his contract, swiping him from the Boston Red Sox. In Reese’s 15 seasons with Brooklyn, the team won seven pennants, finished second six times, and wound up third twice.

After his first two seasons with Brooklyn, Reese served in the U.S. Navy in the Pacific. Much of his time was spent playing ball on the same military team as Phil Rizzuto. On that team managed by Bill Dickey, Reese earned the shortstop position, pushing Rizzuto to third base. While preparing for the invasion of Japan in 1945, Reese was sent home with thousands of other soldiers after the atomic bombs ended the war.

Reese returned to the Dodgers and helped lead them to a flag in 1947. Robinson, Duke Snider, Gil Hodges, and later Roy Campanella, helped form the core of the great Dodgers teams of that era. In 1949 the Dodgers won another flag, only to lose to the Yankees in the Fall Classic once again. Pennant seasons in 1952 and 1953 ended similarly. In 1955 Reese was 37, but he still sparked the Dodgers, and after they won their sixth pennant in fifteen seasons, they finally beat the Yanks in the World Series. Reese played a key role in that seven-game victory.

Within three years the Dodgers moved from New York to Los Angeles. Reese retired soon after, coaching briefly before spending some time as a broadcaster. The bulk of his post-baseball career was spent working for Hillerich & Bradsby, the manufacturers of the Louisville Slugger. For years his place in the Hall of Fame was debated by baseball fans and historians. Finally, in 1984 he was selected to the Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee. Longtime shortstop rival Rizzuto later joined him in the honor.

The 1950 National League Pennant Race
On October 1, 1950 the Dodgers met the Phillies in the final game of the season. The Phils led Brooklyn by one game. With Don Newcombe on the mound facing Robin Roberts (making his third start in five days), the game went into extra-innings. Philadelphia won 4-1 on Dick Sisler’s dramatic homer off Newcombe in the top of the 10th inning. As a result, the Phils won their first pennant in 35 years. Brooklyn's only score came when Reese hit a high flyball into the screen over Ebbets Field's right field wall. The ball fell on top of the wall and bounced around long enough for Reese to leg out an inside-the-park home run.

Born
Harold Henry Reese was born on July 23, 1918, in Ekron, KY.

Died
August 14, 1999, Louisville, KY

Batted:  Right
Threw:  Right

Primary Position:  SS

Primary Team:  BRO

Major League Debut
April 23, 1940

Nine Other Players Who Debuted in 1940
Pee Wee Reese
Elmer Valo
Marty Marion
Walker Cooper
Dom DiMaggio
Pete Reiser
Harry Brecheen
Harry Walker
Stan Spence

As a child, little Harold Reese loved to play marbles, and was quickly tabbed "Pee Wee."

Similar Players
Herman Long

Related Players
Phil Rizzuto, Jackie Robinson, Maury Wills

Hall of Fame Voting Year Election Votes Pct 1964 BBWAA 73 36.3% 1964 Run Off 47 20.9% 1966 BBWAA 95 31.5% 1967 BBWAA 89 30.5% 1967 Run Off 16 5.2% 1968 BBWAA 81 28.6% 1969 BBWAA 89 26.2% 1970 BBWAA 97 32.3% 1971 BBWAA 127 35.3% 1972 BBWAA 129 32.6% 1973 BBWAA 126 33.2% 1974 BBWAA 141 38.6% 1975 BBWAA 154 42.5% 1976 BBWAA 186 47.9% 1977 BBWAA 163 42.6% 1984 Veterans %

Post-Season Appearances
1941 World Series
1947 World Series
1949 World Series
1952 World Series
1953 World Series
1955 World Series
1956 World Series

Hitting Streaks
22 games (1951)

All-Star Selections
1942 NL
1946 NL
1947 NL
1948 NL
1949 NL
1950 NL
1951 NL
1952 NL
1953 NL
1954 NL

Learn More about Pee Wee Reese
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