In 1941, his first full season, Pete Reiser became the youngest batting champion in history, winning the NL title with a .343 average, and led the league in runs, doubles, triples, total bases, and slugging average. By July of 1942, the popular Brooklyn outfielder was flirting with .400 and was easily baseball’s fastest rising star. But a jarring collision with the outfield wall in St. Louis sent his season into a tailspin. After spending the next three years in the Army, he would come back to lead the league in stolen bases, battling dizziness and headaches throughout the season. Ten more collisions with the outfield wall—each adding a shoulder separation, muscle tear, fracture, contusion, or concussion to his long list of injuries—would make him a frequent visitor to the disabled list and keep Reiser from ever again playing a full season.
This biography provides the full story on Reiser, with special emphasis given to the highlights of Reiser’s playing days and the factors that kept him from fulfilling his enormous potential. In addition, the author discusses the broader situation of major league baseball, including Jackie Robinson’s entrance on the National League scene, league-jumping and the subsequent blackballing of players, and the conditions under which big leaguers of the era lived, worked, and played.

A novelist, editor and business executive, Sidney Jacobson lives in Los Angeles, California.

Sidney Jacobson
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 240
Bibliographic Info: photos, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2004
pISBN: 978-0-7864-1876-3
eISBN: 978-0-7864-8373-0
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments       vii

Preface       1

1. The Brooklyn Dodgers      5

2. Larry and Leo      13

3. A Pistol Is Fired      22

4. Hidden Away      36

5. Dem (Not Such) Bums      40

6. Finally      49

7. A New Shopping Spree      58

8. Coming Into His Own      62

9. Rookie of the Year      68

10. Down to the Wire      83

11. Three Strikes and Yer—      91

12. The Gold Dust Twins      99

13. A Season to Remember      109

14. Nice Guys Finish Last      119

15. Men of War      130

16. The Men Come Home      137

17. Home Is for the Stealing      146

18. The Natural      165

19. The Walls      171

20. End Game      184

21. The Image Fades      194

22. Aftermath      201

23. An Imperfect Appraisal      208

Chapter Notes      213

Bibliography      221

Index      223

“valuable…impressive”—Elysian Fields Quarterly; “fascinating…wonderful…full of insight”—Aethlon; “a labor of love…rich retelling of the Dodgers of Leo Durocher, Reiser’s buddy Pee Wee Reese, Dolf Camilli and Dixie Walker”—TheColumnists.com.