Pete Reiser : Gone And Almost Forgotten

The story of Pete Reiser starts out with the most brilliant reviews. Here is a youngster that explodes on the baseball scene with talent that rivals anything the public had seen in a long time. Let me tell you how amazing Pete was. He was nicknamed "Pistol Pete" because of his blinding speed. He was timed in 9.8 seconds for a hundred yards with his baseball spikes on. He could switch hit and could throw equally well with his right or left arm. The fact that he played for the old Brooklyn Dodgers made him even more of a hero. The Dodgers had floundered for many years in the second division and here came their possible savior.



Born in St.Louis, Missouri in 1919, Pete originally signed with the Cardinals, but he was among a group that were declared free agents by the commissioner. He wound up with the Dodgers and his performance in the minors was so impressive, they decided to bring him up for part of the 1940 season. In 1941 as a full time player, Pete took the National League by storm. He won the batting title with a .343 average and also led the league in four other departments. Brooklyn won the pennant and Pete was the reason they made it. All this was accomplished in spite of the fact that " Pistol Pete " suffered serious injuries during the season. Twice he was beaned in the head and once he crashed into a concrete wall during the game. All three times he was taken to the hospital suffering from concussions.



The following year Pete started off great batting .383. That was until he ran into another concrete wall while running at full speed. Remember, Pete was the fastest player in the league and you can imagine the trauma of hitting the wall with your head at top speed. The last episode made Pete pretty ineffective for the rest of the 1942 season. Following that Pete entered the Army and he as many others spent some of their best years in the service of our country. During the war years Pete played for Army teams and in one incident he injured his shoulder so badly that he never really regained the ability to throw like he once could.



With the war over, Pete returned to baseball in 1946. But all the head injuries and now the shoulder kept Pete from realizing the great ability he had previously shown.

The Dodgers made it to the World Series once again in 1947. Pete played in a few games, but he didn't tell anybody that he was having dizzy spells. In one particular game, he made a series of errors on easy plays that should have been no problem. The public was hard on Pete, but of course they didn't realize, it was a career filled with horrible injuries that was really the culprit.



Pete drifted from team to team. Each one hoping for a return to form, but it was not to be. Eventually Pete got into managing and actually had some success. He stayed in baseball until 1971. Much of his disappointment had him turning to the bottle and his health quickly deteriorated. Pete passed away in California in 1981 at the age of 62. There is a book now titled " The 100 Greatest Baseball Players of All Time". Pete is included in the book because of his exceptional talent that was curtailed by a career filled with injuries. Everybody knows about Mickey, Willie and the Duke, but before them there was "Pistol Pete".



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