Pee Wee Reese

Full Name: Harold Henry Reese Primary Position: SS Height/Weight: 5' 10"/160 First Game: April 23, 1940 Birthdate: July 23, 1918 Final Game: September 26, 1958 Birthplace: Ekron, Kentucky MLB Experience: 16 years Died: August 14, 1999 Deathplace: Louisville, Kentucky Bat/Throw: Right/Right

Biography

Harold Henry "Pee Wee" Reese (July 23, 1918 - August 14, 1999) was a professional baseball player who played for the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers from 1940 to 1958. Reese was a ten-time All Star shortstop who contributed to seven league championships for Brooklyn.

Reese was a strong supporter of the first black Major League Baseball player, Jackie Robinson. He refused to sign a petition that threatened a boycott if Robinson joined the team. When Robinson joined the Dodgers in 1947 and traveled with them during their first road trip, he was heckled by fans in Cincinnati, Ohio. Reese, the captain of the team, went over to Robinson and put his arm around his shoulder in a gesture of support which silenced the crowd. The gesture was especially telling because Reese was born and raised near then-segregated Louisville, Kentucky. This gesture is depicted in a bronze sculpture of Reese and Robinson, created by sculptor William Behrends, that was placed at KeySpan Park in Brooklyn, New York, and unveiled on November 1, 2005.

Throughout that difficult first year in the major leagues, Reese helped keep Robinson's morale up amid all the abuse. Their rapport soon led shortstop Reese and second baseman Robinson to become one of the most effective defensive pairs in the sport's history.

At Reese's funeral, Joe Black, another Major League Baseball black pioneer, said:

"Pee Wee helped make my boyhood dream come true to play in the Majors, the World Series. When Pee Wee reached out to Jackie, all of us in the Negro 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."

Following his retirement as a player, Reese enjoyed considerable success as a play-by-play announcer on network television. He called games for CBS from 1960-1965 (with Dizzy Dean) and for NBC from 1966-1968 (with Curt Gowdy). Reese also broadcast several World Series for NBC radio.

In 1984, Pee Wee Reese was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

In front of the main entrance into Louisville Slugger Field, stands a statue of Pee Wee Reese.

The friendship between Reese and Robinson is the subject of a popular 1990 children's book called Teammates (ISBN 0-15-284285-3), by Peter Golenbock.

Most people believe that Pee Wee Reese's best season was 1949, when he slugged 16 home runs, stole 26 bases, hit for a .279 average and knocked in 73 runs.

Statistics

Batting Stats

Year	Team		G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG	OBP	SLG	2B	3B	BB	SO	HBP	SH	SB	IBB	GDP
1940	BRO	N	84	312	58	85	5	28	.272	.366	.372	8	4	45	42	1	3	15	0	1
1941	BRO	N	152	595	76	136	2	46	.229	.311	.294	23	5	68	56	3	8	10	0	6
1942	BRO	N	151	564	87	144	3	53	.255	.350	.332	24	5	82	55	0	9	15	0	8
1946	BRO	N	152	542	79	154	5	60	.284	.384	.378	16	10	87	71	1	14	10	0	10
1947	BRO	N	142	476	81	135	12	73	.284	.414	.426	24	4	104	67	2	8	7	0	7
1948	BRO	N	151	566	96	155	9	75	.274	.363	.390	31	4	79	63	0	9	25	0	16
1949	BRO	N	155	617	132	172	16	73	.279	.396	.410	27	3	116	59	4	6	26	0	5
1950	BRO	N	141	531	97	138	11	52	.260	.369	.380	21	5	91	62	1	10	17	0	7
1951	BRO	N	154	616	94	176	10	84	.286	.371	.393	20	8	81	57	2	12	20	0	19
1952	BRO	N	149	559	94	152	6	58	.272	.369	.365	18	8	86	59	0	15	30	0	16
1953	BRO	N	140	524	108	142	13	61	.271	.374	.420	25	7	82	61	4	15	22	0	15
1954	BRO	N	141	554	98	171	10	69	.309	.404	.455	35	8	90	62	3	8	8	1	20
1955	BRO	N	145	553	99	156	10	61	.282	.371	.403	29	4	78	60	3	13	8	1	22
1956	BRO	N	147	572	85	147	9	46	.257	.322	.344	19	2	56	69	1	15	13	1	14
1957	BRO	N	103	330	33	74	1	29	.224	.306	.248	3	1	39	32	1	6	5	1	7
1958	LA	N	59	147	21	33	4	17	.224	.337	.381	7	2	26	15	0	6	1	0	3
Total			2166	8058	1338	2170	126	885	.269	.366	.377	330	80	1210	890	26	157	232	4	176

Fielding Stats

Year	Team		POS	G	GS	INN	PO	A	ERR	DP	TP	PB	SB	CS	PkO	AVG
1940	BRO	N	SS	83	0	0	190	238	18	41	0	0	0	0	0	.960
1941	BRO	N	SS	151	0	0	346	473	47	76	0	0	0	0	0	.946
1942	BRO	N	SS	151	0	0	337	482	35	99	0	0	0	0	0	.959
1946	BRO	N	SS	152	0	0	285	463	26	104	0	0	0	0	0	.966
1947	BRO	N	SS	142	0	0	266	441	25	99	0	0	0	0	0	.966
1948	BRO	N	SS	149	0	0	335	453	31	93	0	0	0	0	0	.962
1949	BRO	N	SS	155	0	0	316	454	18	93	0	0	0	0	0	.977
1950	BRO	N	SS	134	0	0	282	398	26	94	0	0	0	0	0	.963
1950	BRO	N	3B	7	0	0	9	16	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1.000
1951	BRO	N	SS	154	0	0	292	422	35	106	0	0	0	0	0	.953
1952	BRO	N	SS	145	0	0	282	376	21	89	0	0	0	0	0	.969
1953	BRO	N	SS	135	0	0	265	380	23	83	0	0	0	0	0	.966
1954	BRO	N	SS	140	140	1253	270	426	25	74	0	0	0	0	0	.965
1955	BRO	N	SS	142	0	0	239	404	23	86	0	0	0	0	0	.965
1956	BRO	N	SS	136	0	0	263	367	23	79	0	0	0	0	0	.965
1956	BRO	N	3B	12	0	0	6	21	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	.931
1957	BRO	N	3B	75	62	582	51	166	13	5	0	0	0	0	0	.943
1957	BRO	N	SS	23	20	188	46	62	6	16	0	0	0	0	0	.947
1958	LA	N	SS	22	19	166	26	52	6	14	0	0	0	0	0	.929
1958	LA	N	3B	21	19	166	18	37	4	2	0	0	0	0	0	.932
Total			SS	2014	179	1607	4040	5891	388	1246	0	0	0	0	0	.962
Total			3B	115	81	748	84	240	19	9	0	0	0	0	0	.945

Transactions

• Signed as an amateur free agent by Pittsburgh Pirates (1938).
• Sold by Boston Red Sox to Brooklyn Dodgers for $35000 and 4 players (July 18, 1939).
• Released by Los Angeles Dodgers (December 30, 1958).