Books and articles about Pete Reiser

In 1941, Pete Reiser, in his first full season with the Dodgers, became the National League's youngest batting champion ever, hitting .343. He tied for the league lead with 39 doubles and led with 17 triples, 117 runs scored, and a .558 slugging percentage. "The feeling about him in 1942 was that he was as great a star as there ever was in the game," said the Braves' Tommy Holmes. Leo Durocher, who managed Willie Mays and played with Babe Ruth, thought that Reiser "just might have been the best ballplayer I ever saw," but that he "had everything but luck."

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RELATED LINKS » 1941: That Magificent Streak Book Excerpts » "Pete Reiser [was] stolen out of Rickey's own farm system in 1937 for a $100 bonus when Judge Landis went on one of his free-the-farmhands sprees": Leonard Koppett Submissions » Baseball Returns to Brooklyn, New York: You Can't Go Home Again by Sam Person » Reese was no Pee Wee by Harvey Frommer Around the Web » Pete Reiser from baseball-reference.com » Pete Reiser from thebaseballpage.com Jump directly to Library content from any website!

Reiser played too recklessly to have luck. He was hitting .383 on July 2, 1942, when he smashed into the centerfield wall in St. Louis. It was one of 11 times, according to writer Red Smith, that Reiser had to be carried off the field. He suffered a severe concussion and a shoulder separation and finished the season batting just .310. He still won the NL stolen-base title with 20.

Reiser spent 1943 through 1945 in the military, during which time he first encountered Jackie Robinson at Fort Riley, Kansas. He later became one of Robinson's biggest supporters. Reiser returned to the Dodgers in 1946, and won another stolen-base title. His seven steals of home set a ML record. In 1947, he was hurt so severely after hitting the centerfield wall at Ebbets Field that he was given last rites. Although Reiser's mishaps are credited with prompting the padding of outfield walls and the universal use of warning tracks, the move came too late to preserve what many felt was the greatest talent Brooklyn had ever seen. Reiser played in only 64 games in 1948 and was traded to the Braves. He later coached for the Dodgers, Cubs, and Angels. (TG)

FROM THE BASEBALL CHRONOLOGY » January 26, 1931: The Boston Braves release veteran pitcher Johnny Cooney. He had held out in 1930, insisting he could bat well enough to stay in baseball. After several years in the minors, he will return to the National League as a Braves OF and be runner-up to NL batting champ Pete Reiser in 1940. » March 23, 1938: Judge Landis frees 74 Cardinal minor leaguers, among them Pete Reiser, in yet another attempt to halt the cover-up he perceived the farm system caused. Larry MacPhail makes a pact with Branch Rickey to take the unknown player and swap him back in the future, but Reiser's ability is too great to hide. » March 22, 1939: Pete Reiser, 0-for-3 yesterday against the Yankees, starts his 2nd spring training game for the Dodgers. He homers in his first at bat against the Cardinals, and follows with a walk and two singles. He will have 10 straight hits before striking out three times against the Yankees Oral Hildebrand on the 28th. When Jack Haley relieves Hildebrand, Reiser hits a home run off him. Reiser will go north with Brooklyn and play in an April 15th exhibition against the Yankees in Ebbets Field before being farmed out to Elmira. » May 25, 1941: Pete Reiser hits his only career grand slam to pace the Dodgers to an 8–4 win over the Phils. Reiser's home run comes off Ike Pearson, who had beaned him just a month earlier. » May 31, 1942: In Game One of a twinbill sweep at Brooklyn, Dixie Walker of the Dodgers is credited with an inside-the-park grand slam as the Braves aging Paul Waner searches for the ball under the bullpen bench. Walker follows Pee Wee Reese, Pete Reiser, and Arky Vaughan over the plate. The Dodgers win, 10–2. Brooklyn wins the nitecap, 3–1, behind Whit Wyatt's 10th straight win over Boston. » July 19, 1942: The Brooklyn lead of eight games is cut as the Cards win three of 4. The larger blow, however, is a concussion suffered by Pete Reiser after crashing into an OF wall at Sportsman's Park chasing an Enos Slaughter 11th-inning fly. Reiser drops the ball upon impact, and Slaughter scores an inside-the-park HR for a 7-6 Cards' win. Hitting .379 at the time, Reiser will see his average fall to .310 after the injury. His 20 stolen bases will still lead the NL. » August 28, 1942: Dodger Pete Reiser, hitless in his last 13 trips and with his batting average down 35 points in six weeks, enters the hospital with a torn thigh ligament. » May 25, 1946: The first place Dodgers whip the Phillies, 7–1, for their 14th straight win at Shibe Park. Augie Galan has single, double, and triple and is involved in an unusual "catcher's balk" play. Augie is at bat when Pete Reiser, on 3B, breaks for home on an attempted steal. Phils C Andy Seminick tips Galan's bat on the play and umpire Al Barlick calls the balk. Reiser is awarded a steal of home and Galan gets 1B. The Dodgers will sweep a pair tomorrow at Shibe. » September 8, 1946: Dodger Pete Reiser, even though still as injury-prone as he was before the war, steals 3 bases, including home, in an 11-3 Dodger victory over the Giants. It is his 7th steal of home this year. He will lead the ML with 34 steals despite missing more than 30 games due to injuries. » March 8, 1947: In Havana's new Stadium del Cerro, the Dodgers, behind three pitchers, beat the Yankees in 10 innings 1–0. Carl Furillo scores on Pete Reiser's double, and Snuffy Stirnweiss's 10th-inning single is the only Yankee hit. On hand to watch is Connie Zimmerman, an associate of mobster Lucky Luciano, and a racing handicapper, Memphis Engelberg. As Burt Solomon writes, Leo Durocher points out the men to sports writers Dick Young and Milt Gross, saying, "Look at that. If I had those guys in my box, I'd be kicked out of baseball. Are there two sets of rules? One applying to managers and one applying to club owners. When asked about if the me are his guests, Dodger GM Larry MacPhail snaps, "What are you. The goddam FBI?" MacPhail calls Durocher a liar, and in a bizarre turn, later files charges against the manager with the commissioner's office. » December 15, 1948: The Dodgers trade Pete Reiser to the Braves for Mike McCormick. The marvelously talented but reckless Reiser crashed into too many outfield walls and, according to Red Smith, was carried off on a stretcher 11 times. » July 16, 1969: After White Sox lefty Jerry Nyman walks in a run with the bases loaded, Rod Carew steals home for the 7th time, as the American League-West leading Twins sweep a twin bill, winning 9–8 and 6–3 from the White Sox. Carew ties Pete Reiser's major-league record for steals of home in a season, a record since given back to Ty Cobb (8 steals in 1912) in 1991 after further research. » July 27, 1998: Colorado defeats Pittsburgh in 13 innings, 8–7. When Pirates' 2B Tony Womack bounced out in the 11th inning, it gave him a major league record 888 consecutive at bats without grounding into a double play. The old record of 887 had been set by Brooklyn's Pete Reiser (July 20, 1941 to June 24, 1946). Womack last bounced into a DP on May 27, 1997.