| Jimmie Reese | |
|---|---|
| Second baseman / Third baseman / Coach | |
| Born: October 1, 1901 New York City |
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| Died: July 12, 1994 (aged 92) Santa Ana, California |
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| Batted: Left | Threw: Right |
| MLB debut | |
| April 19, 1930 for the New York Yankees | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| September 25, 1932 for the St. Louis Cardinals | |
| Career statistics | |
| Batting average | .278 |
| Home runs | 8 |
| Runs batted in | 70 |
| Teams | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
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Jimmie Reese (October 1, 1901 – July 13, 1994) was a professional baseball player. He played second base, third base, and then coached in Major League Baseball.
Reese was born James Herman Solomon to a Jewish family in New York City and was brought up in Los Angeles.[1][2] In order to avoid the brunt of prejudice against Jewish baseball players, he adopted the name of Jimmie Reese, which he used throughout his baseball career.[2]
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Much of his career was spent in the Pacific Coast League, beginning as a batboy with the Los Angeles Angels from 1919 (at least one source claims 1917[1]) to 1923.[3][4]
In 1924 he signed a contract to play second base with the Oakland Oaks.[4]
In 1927, Reese batted .295 in 191 games and led the PCL in fielding for second basemen (.984), as the Oaks won their first pennant in 15 years.[3]
In September 1927 he was traded by Oakland to the New York Yankees for Lyn Lary and $100,000 ($1,265,000 today).[4]
He was called up to the American League in 1930. Reese played for the Yankees in 1930 and 1931, and was most noted for being the roommate of Babe Ruth (or, as Reese explained, he “roomed with Ruth’s suitcase”).[5]
In 1930 he batted .346 in 188 at bats, striking out only 8 times. Only Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth hit for higher averages on the team. He was the primary back-up at second base (48 games) behind Tony Lazzeri (77 games).
In November 1931 he was sent by the Yankees to the St. Paul Saints (American Association), to complete an earlier deal made in June 1931 for Johnny Murphy, Jack Saltzgaver, cash, and 2 players to be named.
Reese played the 1932 season with the St. Louis Cardinals, who had selected him off of waivers in June.
The Los Angeles Angels (PCL) purchased Reese's contract from the Cardinals in February 1933. He hit .330 in 104 games, but missed a large part of the season because of injuries and illness.
In 1934 he batted .311, with 12 triples, and led all second basemen in fielding percentage (.972).
The 1935 and 1936 seasons found him still with the Angels.
In 1937 he was traded to the San Diego Padres (PCL), where he hit .314 and helped the Padres win the Governor's Cup.[3]
1938 was his last year in the PCL.
| Jimmie Reese's number 50 was retired by the California Angels in 1995. |
During World War II, Reese served briefly in the Army, from November 1942 to July 1943. Assigned to the 12th Armored Division at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, he managed the baseball team there.[6]
After the war he scouted for the Boston Braves for two years, then returned to San Diego as a coach from 1948 until 1960.
In June 1960, he was appointed manager at San Diego, and his team went 34–18 for the rest of the season. He started 1961 as manager, but resigned because he felt he was not cut out to be a manager. "I'm best suited as a liaison man, as a coach," he said. "I just am not suited to give a guy hell."[3]
From 1963 until 1970 he coached at Hawaii, Seattle, and Portland, Oregon; then he scouted for the Montreal Expos.
He threw out the ceremonial first pitch at the 1989 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, played at Anaheim Stadium.
Reese never married, had no children, and was mostly estranged from his extended family. In 1972, at age 71, he asked the Angels for a job, and was hired as conditioning coach, whose job was to get the players into shape. Reese's main specialty, however, was hitting fungos in practice, using a bat he made himself. Numerous Angels players remarked on his seemingly uncanny ability to place fungos where he wanted. He even occasionally "pitched" batting practice with his fungo bat, standing at the pitcher's rubber and consistently hitting line drives over the middle of the plate. He was regularly called "the nicest man in baseball", and had a friendship with Nolan Ryan when he was with the team; Ryan would name one of his sons Reese in his honor.[1] He was listed as an Angels coach for 22 years, until his death on July 13, 1994, in Santa Ana, California, after a brief illness. His uniform #50 was retired by the club in his memory. Reese is believed to be the oldest person ever to regularly wear a uniform in an official capacity in the history of organized professional baseball in North America.[1] Ted Radcliffe and Buck O'Neil made appearances in professional games at older ages, but those were one-off ceremonial events.
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