Jimmie Reese
Jimmie Reese | ||
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Runs batted in | 70 | |
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As coach
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Jimmie Reese (born James Herman Solomon; October 1, 1901 – July 13, 1994) was an American
Early life
Reese was born James Herman Solomon and was Jewish, born in New York City, and was brought up in Los Angeles where he attended Rolling Hills Prep.
Playing career
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[3]) to 1923.[5][6]
Oakland Oaks
In 1924 he signed a contract to play
The Oaks won the PCL pennant in 1927, with Reese batting .295 in 191 games. He had a league-leading fielding percentage of .984 that year.[5]
New York Yankees
In September 1927 he was traded by Oakland to the New York Yankees with Lyn Lary and US$100,000 (US$1,754,023 today).[6]
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.[6]
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).
St. Paul Saints
In November, 1931, he was sent by the Yankees to the
St. Louis Cardinals
Reese played the 1932 season with the St. Louis Cardinals, who had selected him off of waivers in June.
Los Angeles Angels (PCL)
The Los Angeles Angels (PCL) purchased Reese's contract from the Cardinals in February, 1933. He missed most of the season due to injuries and illness, but hit .330 in 104 games.[5] The following year he batted .311 with 12 triples, and had a fielding percentage of .972 (the best among second basemen that season). He continued to play for the Angels in 1935 and 1936.[5]
San Diego Padres (PCL)
In 1937, he was traded to the San Diego Padres (PCL), where he hit .314. The Padres won the Governor's Cup that year.
Semi-retirement as player
He all-but retired as a player after the 1938 season,[5] spending the 1939 season with two Western International League teams and playing just 2 games for the 1940 Angels (in addition to his coaching duties).
After his playing career
Reese served in the Army from November 1942 to July 1943 with the
After the war, he worked as a scout for the
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
His uniform #50 was retired by the club in his memory. At his death, Reese was 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.[3] His record was surpassed in 2016 by Red Schoendienst, who served as a special assistant coach for the St. Louis Cardinals, wearing a Cardinals uniform in that role, until his death in 2018 at age 95. Ted Radcliffe and Buck O'Neil made appearances in professional games at older ages, but those were one-off ceremonial events.
He was inducted into the Pacific Coast League Hall of Fame in 2003.[citation needed]
See also
In popular culture
In the Lee Child novel One Shot (and the movie Jack Reacher based on it), the hero Jack Reacher uses the alias Jimmie Reese. He confirms that whenever he uses an alias, he always uses the name of someone who played second base for the Yankees, such as Jimmie Reese.
Notes and references
- ^ "Jimmie Reese". baseball-reference.com. Retrieved May 16, 2021.
- ^ "Big League Jews". Jewish Sports Review. 12 (137): 20. January–February 2020.
- ^ a b c d Weiss, Bill; Wright, Marshall. "Minor League Baseball History, Top 100 Teams: Team #1 1934 Los Angeles Angels (137–50)". Minor League Baseball. Retrieved September 1, 2009.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-7432-8490-5.
- ^ a b c d e f g Jimmie Reese at the SABR Baseball Biography Project , by Ralph Berger, Retrieved February 1, 2011.
- ^ a b c d "Jimmie Reese, 92, A Baseball Coach – Obituary". New York Times. July 14, 1994. Retrieved February 1, 2011.
External links
- Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball Reference, or Fangraphs, or Baseball Reference (Minors), or Retrosheet
- Jimmie Reese at Baseball Almanac