Pete Reiser
| Birthdate | 3/17/1919 |
| Death Date | 10/25/1981 |
| Debut Year | 1940 |
| Year of Induction | |
| Teams | Braves, Dodgers, Indians, Pirates |
| Positions | Center Field, Coach, Scout |
In 1941 Pete Reiser led the NL in WAR, doubles, triples, average, slugging %, OPS, & total bases to lead Brooklyn to their 1st pennant since 1920.
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Pete Reiser's all-out style broke down his body but never his spirit
Pete Reiser's all-out style broke down his body but never his spirit
Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Red Smith wrote of Pete Reiser, “Pete may have been born to be the best baseball player that ever lived but there never was a park big enough to contain his effort. He was a man of immeasurable skills and unconquerable spirit who played the only way he knew how – hitting, running, sliding, crashing into outfield walls, until he had literally broken his magnificent body to bits.”
When Reiser broke in with Brooklyn he was barely old enough to drink. The 21-year old hit .293 in 58 games for the second-place Dodgers who finished 12 1/2 games out of first.
The Brooklyn outfielder played with reckless abandon, sacrificing his body as he played with 100% effort.
The following season, Reiser was phenomenal. He led the league with a .341 average, far ahead of second-place finisher Johnny Cooney’s .319 clip.
Reiser also paced the Senior Circuit in doubles, triples, runs, slugging percentage, OPS, total bases, and WAR. Today’s voters would undoubtedly give him with the Most Valuable Player Award. In those days, homers and RBI were king.
Reiser’s 34-year old Brooklyn teammate Dolph Camilli led the NL in both categories and received the award instead.
In spring of ’42 Pete served as best man in the wedding of his Dodger roommate Pee Wee Reese. Reiser started the season with a hot bat. In mid July Brooklyn traveled to St. Louis for a four-game series against the second-place Cardinals.
The teams squared off in a doubleheader on July 19th. With a hit in each of his last 11, and 18 of 19, Reiser was hitting .356 on the year.
In the bottom of the 11th inning of the second game, Hall of Famer Enos Slaughter hit a long fly ball to center. Reiser raced full speed toward the wall. The ball found his glove and an instant later, Reiser collided head-first into the concrete wall at Sportsman’s Park.
The ball dropped from his glove. The Dodger centerfielder retrieved it and threw to the cutoff man Reese. Slaughter rounded the bases for a game-winning inside-the-park homer.
After throwing the ball in, Reiser fell to the ground. He suffered a separated shoulder, concussion, and fractured skull. Reiser hit .244 the rest of the season. The fleet-footed Brooklyn man led the league with 20 stolen bases, getting caught only once. However, as a player he was never the same.
In the offseason Reiser tried to enlist into the Navy and serve his country in WWII. He flunked the physical. Determined to join the war effort, he went to an Army recruiting office in January of ’43. This time he was accepted.
Reiser missed the next three full seasons. He returned in 1946 for his age 27-season. Reiser earned his way onto the All Star team for his third straight season, leading the league with 34 steals while posting a 4.5 WAR.
In ’47, Reiser and the Dodgers watched as Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier. On June 4 that season Reiser again tangled with a centerfield wall, this time in Brooklyn.
That day the Pirates’ Culley Rikard slammed a Ralph Branca pitch over Reiser’s head in center. The Dodger flycatcher caught up to it then slammed into the Ebbet’s Field concrete. He fell unconscious, bleeding profusely. The Dodgers rushed him to a nearby hospital.
Reiser missed a month of play. He finished the year with a .309 average and .415 on-base percentage. It was his last season as a regular.
Pete played 64 games for Brooklyn in ’48 and was traded to the Boston Braves in December. After two years in Boston, the Braves released him. Reiser saw action in a combined 108 games in ’51 and ’52 for the Pirates and Indians before retiring.
Exactly how many injuries Resier suffered is impossible to know. After more than a dozen violent collisions with outfield walls he did have at least four skull fractures. His dislocated shoulder gave him trouble throughout his career after 1942. Reiser’s leg problems included broken ankles, damaged knees, torn and muscles.
According to SABR, he was carried off of the playing field on a stretcher 11 times.
Pete Reiser had Hall of Fame talent. The intensity of his play and his disregard for his body’s safety sapped his Cooperstown chances.
In the collection is this picture from Resier’s first game against his former Brooklyn mates on May 13, 1949. Dodger captain Pee Wee Reese greets his best man and former roommate. The game that day went extra innings. In the bottom of the 10th Reiser was inserted as a pinch runner and came around to score the winning run for the Braves in the walk-off victory. Both men have both signed the photo.
Leo Durocher called Reiser, "best baseball player I ever saw"
Leo Durocher called Reiser, "best baseball player I ever saw"
Pete Reiser broke in with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1940. In his first two seasons he played alongside veteran shortstop Leo Durocher.
No stranger to elite talent, Durocher spent 43 years as a big league player and manager. The first of his three World Series titles came with a Yankee team that featured 10 future ten who went on to the Hall of Fame. After playing with Ruth and Gehrig, Leo played on the famed Gas House Gang 1934 Cardinals that had 7 Cooperstown men of their own.
Durocher also managed Willie Mays in his first four big league seasons. In his first season the Say Hey Kid earned the Rookie of the Year. Then in 1954 Mays won his only batting crown while slugging 41 homers on his way to the NL MVP.
With all the great players he saw up close, Durocher maintained none was better than Pete Reiser. Leo described his lifelong friend in his autobiography Nice guys Finish Last.
“Pete Reiser just might have been the best baseball player I ever saw. He could throw as good as Willie…You think Willie could run? You think Mickey Mantle could run? Name whoever you want to, and Pete Reiser was faster. Willie Mays had everything. Pete Reiser had everything but luck.”
The image above shows a 1933 Goudey signed by Durocher.
After retiring as a player, Reiser remained in the game for the rest of his life
After retiring as a player, Reiser remained in the game for the rest of his life
Pete Reiser’s final season in the bigs came in 1952. After the Pirates released him in November of ’51, the Indians came calling the following spring.
At their helm was Hall of Fame manager Al Lopez. The skipper was familiar with Reiser. In ’41 when Reiser wore the batting crown Lopez was a 32-year old All Star catcher for the Pirates. He came to appreciate Reiser as a man and player.
In Cleveland Reiser appeared in 34 games before calling it quits. When he informed Lopez of his intention to hang up his spikes, Lopez cried.
Three years later in 1955 the game beckoned for a Reiser return. Dodger GM Buzzie Bavasi offered him a job piloting a Brooklyn minor league team. That year the Dodgers won their only World Series in Brooklyn. Reiser was ecstatic for his former teammates, especially old friend Pee Wee Reese.
Reiser worked in the minors the next few seasons before joining the Dodgers staff in 1960. A two-time National League stolen base champion, Reiser worked with shortstop Maury Wills on base running. With Pete’s help, Wills set a new MLB record with 104 steals in his 1962 MVP season.
After a couple of minor league stops, Reiser returned to the show in 1966 to work with his manager from the Brooklyn days, Leo Durocher. The pair worked together for the Cubs until Reiser accepted a job with the California Angels in 1969. Durocher welcomed Reiser back for the ’72 and ’73 seasons.
After Reiser left the field for good, he took up scouting. At the conclusion of the 1981 campaign, he left the game for good. Two days after the announcement Reiser passed away at age 62.
In the collection is this government postcard signed by Reiser in his final big league season as a player.
The postmark gives the signature context and helps authenticate it
The postmark gives the signature context and helps authenticate it
Shown here is the reverse of the postcard signed by Reiser. The postmark lends context. It is stamped from Cleveland, Ohio and dated May 22, 1952 at 7:30 pm.
Reiser appeared in just 34 games in ’52, with 25 of them begining either a pinch-hitter or pinch-runner.
Earlier that day before Reiser dropped the postcard in the mail, appeared in the Indians game vs. the Red Sox at Cleveland’s Municipal Stadium.
Locked in a 2-2 tie, Indians third baseman Al Rosen led off the 8th with a single to center. Manager Lopez inserted Reiser as a pinch runner. After Larry Doby struck out, Dale Mitchell singled Reiser to second. The go-ahead run was in scoring position.
Both Luke Easter and Bob Kennedy flew out to end the threat. The Red Sox rallied for the deciding run in the 9th to end the day. Reiser played in just 20 more contests, recording three hits – two of them homers.
The former batting champ played his final big league game 44 days later on July 5, 1952.
Reiser was the boyhood favorite of future LA owner Peter O'Malley
Reiser was the boyhood favorite of future LA owner Peter O'Malley
When Emmy-winning film editor Rick Tuber put together a documentary on his father-in-law Pete Reiser, he interviewed many baseball figures. Among them was former Dodger owner Peter O’Malley.
In the trailer of the film the soft-spoken O’Malley says that as a boy his favorite player was Reiser. Echoing those words is this letter written by O’Malley’s father, Hall of Fame owner Walter O’Malley.
“It just does not seem that fans of today have the interest in yesterday’s stars to set a date for our old friend Pete Reiser. His picture was the first ball player to be hung in my son’s room and he has always been a personal favorite.”
The letter is dated August 18, 1953 the first season after Reiser retired as a player. The younger O’Malley was 16 years old. The correspondence is written on Brooklyn Dodger letterhead, four and a half years before the team played its first game in Los Angeles.
Peter O’Malley grew up around the baseball, learned the family business and ascended to the presidency of the Dodgers on St. Patrick’s Day, 1970. The O’Malley family held ownership of the team until Peter sold it for a then-record price for a US sports team.
As Dodger coach, Reiser was instrumental in Maury Wills' success
As Dodger coach, Reiser was instrumental in Maury Wills' success
Upon retirement, Pete Reiser remained close to the game. He scouted, coached, managed in both the minor and major leagues for the rest of his days.
Among the many men he positively influenced was Dodger great Maury Wills. Before meeting Reiser, the development of the shortstop’s career was greatly delayed. By the time the pair started to bond in 1960, Wills was a veteran of 9 minor league seasons and less than 100 big league games.
Wanting to stick in the bigs, Wills enlisted the help of the two-time stolen base champ Reiser. The pair worked tirelessly throughout spring training and the regular season.
“You can’t quit!,” Reiser repeatedly told Wills.
Wills took Reiser’s advice and gained the confidence needed to perform. The Dodger coach helped Wills slap the ball the other way and dominate a game with his legs.
By the end of the 1960 season, Wills’ 50 steals was the most in the National League. Every season from 1960-65 Wills topped the NL in thefts.
After a 14-year MLB playing career, Wills wrote a book that he dedicated to his mentor Reiser.
Shown here is a baseball card commemorating Wills historic 1962 season when he stole a then-record 104 bases.
Excellent commentary on Pete Reiser. I’ve been married to his daughter Shirley for 40 years. We’re in the process of doing a documentary on his life. We heard about you and this site from the Dodger historian and some former players and coaches. Would appreciate your help.
Thanks,
Rick Tuber
I’d be happy to work with you on the documentary. Please find an email in your inbox.
I was young But a rabid Dodger fan in the early 40″ s. However I do know that he was one of the most respected players on the basepaths. Believe it or not. I seem to remember that time he hit the wall. He was as agressive as any ballplayer ever. Many thought he would have set records beyond those of present recordholders had he not been so injured. I thought only good things about your dad!