Pete Reiser

{{Short description|American baseball player and coach (1919–1981)}}

{{Infobox baseball biography

|name=Pete Reiser

|image=Pete Reiser 1948.jpg

|caption=Reiser in 1948

|position=Outfielder

|bats=Left

|throws=Right

|birth_date={{Birth date|1919|3|17}}

|birth_place=St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.

|death_date={{death date and age|1981|10|25|1919|3|17}}

|death_place=Palm Springs, California, U.S.

|debutleague = MLB

|debutdate=July 23

|debutyear=1940

|debutteam=Brooklyn Dodgers

|finalleague = MLB

|finaldate=July 5

|finalyear=1952

|finalteam=Cleveland Indians

|statleague = MLB

|stat1label=Batting average

|stat1value=.295

|stat2label=Home runs

|stat2value=58

|stat3label=Runs batted in

|stat3value=368

|teams=

Brooklyn Dodgers ({{mlby|1940}}–{{mlby|1942}}, {{mlby|1946}}–{{mlby|1948}})
Boston Braves ({{mlby|1949}}–{{mlby|1950}})
Pittsburgh Pirates ({{mlby|1951}})
Cleveland Indians ({{mlby|1952}})

|highlights=

3× All-Star (1941, 1942, 1946)
World Series champion ({{wsy|1963}})
NL batting champion (1941)
2× NL stolen base leader (1942, 1946)

}}

Harold Patrick Reiser (March 17, 1919 – October 25, 1981), nicknamed "Pistol Pete", was an American professional baseball outfielder and coach, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB), during the 1940s and early 1950s. While known primarily for his time with the Brooklyn Dodgers, Reiser later played for the Boston Braves, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Cleveland Indians.

Early career

A native of St. Louis, Missouri, Reiser signed with his hometown Cardinals, but at age 19 he was among a group of minor league players declared free agents by Commissioner of Baseball Kenesaw Mountain Landis.{{why|date=November 2024}} Reportedly,{{by whom|reason=Please provide a reliable citation upon providing suitable clarification.|date=November 2024}} Cardinal general manager Branch Rickey—mortified at losing a player of Reiser's caliber—arranged for the Dodgers to sign Reiser, hide him in the minors, then trade him back to St. Louis at a later date. But Reiser's stellar performances in spring training in both 1939 and 1940 forced the Dodgers to keep him.Golenbock, Peter. Bums: An Oral History of the Brooklyn Dodgers. (Rickey would become GM of the Dodgers after the 1942 season and witness Reiser's injury-caused decline as a great talent.)

=Derailed by injuries=

In 1941, his first season as a regular starter, Reiser helped the Dodgers win the pennant for the first time since 1920. A sensation his second year, he won the National League batting title while leading the league in doubles, triples, total bases, runs scored, and slugging percentage. He was also named a starter to the All-Star team{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/ALS/ALS194107080.shtml|title=July 8, 1941 All-Star Game Play-By-Play and Box Score – Baseball-Reference.com|work=Baseball-Reference.com|access-date=March 12, 2015}} and placed second in MVP balloting.{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/awards/awards_1941.shtml#NLmvp|title=1941 Awards Voting|work=Baseball-Reference.com|access-date=March 12, 2015}} On July 19 of the following year, Reiser crashed face-first into the outfield wall in St. Louis, trying to catch what turned out to be a game-winning inside-the-park home run by Enos Slaughter of the rival Cardinals in the bottom of the 11th inning.{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SLN/SLN194207192.shtml|title=July 19, 1942 Brooklyn Dodgers at St. Louis Cardinals Play by Play and Box Score – Baseball-Reference.com|work=Baseball-Reference.com|access-date=March 12, 2015}} The loss cut the Dodgers' lead over the Cardinals to six games.{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/games/standings.cgi?date=1942-07-19|title=Standings on Sunday, July 19, 1942 – Baseball-Reference.com|work=Baseball-Reference.com|access-date=March 12, 2015}}

Despite missing just four games with the resulting concussion, he batted only .244 over his final 48 games that season, dropping his batting average from .350 to .310 for the year.{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/gl.cgi?id=reisepe01&t=b&year=1942|title=Pete Reiser 1942 Batting Gamelogs – Baseball-Reference.com|work=Baseball-Reference.com|access-date=March 12, 2015}} The Dodgers ended up losing the pennant by two games to the Cardinals, who won 20 of their last 23 games and eventually the World Series.{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/STL/1942.shtml|title=1942 St. Louis Cardinals|work=Baseball-Reference.com|access-date=March 12, 2015}}

Reiser gave great effort on every play in the field, and was therefore very injury-prone. He fractured his skull running into an outfield wall on one occasion (but still made the throw back to the infield), was temporarily paralyzed on another, and was taken off the field on a stretcher nearly a dozen times.{{cn|date=November 2024}}

Leo Durocher, who was Reiser's first major league manager, reflected many years later that in terms of talent, skill and potential, there was only one other player comparable to Reiser: Willie Mays. He also said, "Pete had more power than Willie—left-handed and right-handed both. Willie had everything, Pete had everything but luck."Durocher, Leo. Nice Guys Finish Last.

Reiser served in the United States Army during World War II, playing baseball for Army teams. While serving, he was injured again and had to learn to throw with both arms.{{cn|date=November 2024}}

When Reiser returned to the majors in 1946, he was still suffering from a shoulder injury from playing Army baseball.Honig, Donald. Baseball When the Grass Was Real. He later said: "It wasn't as serious as the head injuries, but it did more to end my career. The shoulder kept popping out of place, more bone chips developed, and there was constant pain in the arm and shoulder."

He was never the same hitter he was early in his career, but was still as fast as ever, leading the NL in stolen bases and stealing home a record seven times in 1946.{{cn|date=November 2024}} In 1948, Ebbets Field became the first ballpark with padded outfield walls due to Reiser's penchant for running into them.Aronoff, J. Going, Going ... Caught! Baseball's Great Outfield Catches as Described by Those Who Saw Them, 1887-1964. McFarland (2009), p. 33. {{ISBN|0786441135}}

Later life

Reiser managed in the minors for several years (including the Kokomo Dodgers in 1956–57,Boyle, Robert H. (September 2, 1957). [https://web.archive.org/web/20120403112814/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1133241/index.htm Pete In The Bush], Sports Illustrated, Retrieved December 10, 2010 (detailed article profiling Reiser at Kokomo)(October 27, 1981). [https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=HGZAAAAAIBAJ&sjid=zFIMAAAAIBAJ&pg=5462,3744938&dq=kokomo-dodgers+reiser&hl=en Reckless Reiser Dead at 62], Windsor Star, Retrieved December 10, 2010 ("for two years managed the Kokomo Dodgers in the Class D Midwest League") among others), winning the 1959 Minor League Manager of the Year Award from The Sporting News. He served as a coach on Los Angeles Dodger manager Walter Alston's staff from 1960 to 1964 (including the 1963 world championship team). However, he was forced out in 1965 as manager of the AAA Spokane Indians as the result of a heart attack. His replacement was Duke Snider—the man who had once replaced him as Brooklyn Dodger center fielder.

When Leo Durocher became manager of the Chicago Cubs in 1966, he brought many of his former players to coach on his staff. Reiser was one of them (1966–1969; 1972–1974). He also coached for the California Angels in 1970–71.

In 1981, Lawrence Ritter and Donald Honig included him in their book "The 100 Greatest Baseball Players of All Time." They used what they called "Smoky Joe Wood Syndrome" to explain why a truly exceptional player whose career was curtailed by injury—despite not having had career statistics that would rank him with the all-time greats—should nonetheless be included on their list.

Reiser died in Palm Springs, California, of respiratory disease at 62, and was buried at Desert Memorial Park in Cathedral City, California.{{cite book|last1=Brooks|first1=Patricia|title=Laid to Rest in California: a guide to the cemeteries and grave sites of the rich and famous |chapter=Chapter 8: East L.A. and the Desert |page=238 |year=2006|publisher=Globe Pequot Press|location=Guilford, Connecticut|isbn=978-0762741014|last2=Brooks |first2=Jonathan |oclc= 70284362}}

References

External links

{{Baseballstats |mlb=121050 |espn=26679 |br=r/reisepe01 |fangraphs=1010814 |brm=reiser001har |retro=R/Preisp101 }}
{{SABR Baseball Biography Project|92638bc5}}
[https://web.archive.org/web/20101019181229/http://thedeadballera.com/Obits/Obits_R/Reiser.Pete.Obit.html Pete Reiser at The Deadball Era]
{{Find a Grave|7410105}}

Category:1919 births

Category:1981 deaths

Category:Baseball players from St. Louis

Category:Boston Braves players

Category:Brooklyn Dodgers players

Category:Burials at Desert Memorial Park

Category:California Angels coaches

Category:Chicago Cubs coaches

Category:Chicago Cubs scouts

Category:Cleveland Indians players

Category:Elmira Pioneers players

Category:Los Angeles Dodgers coaches