Jimmie Reese
From BR Bullpen
James Herman Reese born James Herman Soloman and known as Hymie Solomon as a youth
- Bats Left, Throws Right
- Height 6' 0", Weight 165 lb.
- Debut April 19, 1930
- Final Game September 25, 1932
- Born October 1, 1901 in New York, NY USA
- Died July 13, 1994 in Santa Ana, CA USA
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[edit] Biographical Information
Jimmie Reese got his start in baseball at age 15 as a batboy for the Los Angeles Angels of the Pacific Coast League from 1917 to 1923, beginning a record 77-year career in baseball.
[edit] 1924-1929 in the PCL
In 1924, Jimmie began a long run with the Oakland Oaks, posting averages of .188, .248, .267, .295, .247 and .337 in his six years there. He is listed as being sold to the New York Yankees for Lyn Lary and $100,000 in September of 1927 but was still with Oakland for two years after that. Songwriter Harry Ruby and Ike Danning once played an exhibition game with celebrities and PCL players. Danning and Ruby decided to forgo signals and use Yiddish to communicate, not aware that Reese was Jewish. Jimmie went 4 for 4 that day.
[edit] 1930-1932 in the majors
Debuting with the Yankees in 1930, the 28-year-old hit .346/.382/.489 in 77 games while backing up Tony Lazzeri. He was assigned as Babe Ruth's roommate and famously joked that in reality, he roomed with Ruth's suitcase. He said Ruth treated him "like a son." In 1931, Reese returned to earth, hitting .241/.293/.335 and playing in 65 games. That winter, he became the player to be named later in part of a deal to the St. Paul Saints for Johnny Murphy and Jack Saltzgaver.
Reese hit .265 for St. Paul in '32 and also batted .265/.314/.333 in 90 games for the 1932 Cardinals to wrap up his major league playing career with a .278/.324/.373 line as the regular second baseman.
[edit] 1933-1940: Back to the minors
Reese went to the LA Angels to come full-circle in 1933. He hit .330, .311, .297 and .270 in four years with LA, then .314 and .232 in two years for the San Diego Padres. He played for two Western International League teams in '39 but hit just .179 in limited time and finished up with scant time in Los Angeles in 1940.
[edit] Coaching career
After retiring, Reese was a coach for the PCL Angels from 1940 to 1942. He managed an Army service team at Camp Campbell in Kentucky in 1942. He was a scout for the Boston Braves in 1945-1946.
Reese began a long association with the San Diego Padres in 1948. He was a coach from 1948 to 1960, replacing George Metkovich as manager on July 23. He remained as manager until resigning on July 6 of the next year. He was a coch for the Hawaii Islanders in 1963-1964, Seattle Angels in 1965-1968, and Hawaii again in 1969. He coached for the Portland Beavers in 1970 and scouted for the Montreal Expos in 1971-1972.
Reese then was a conditioning coach with the California Angels from 1973 until his death. Reese was most famed for his skill as a fungo batter, known for hitting a flagpole on the first try and playing golf with a fungo bat and putter. He was the third person to have his number retired by the Angels, following Nolan Ryan and Rod Carew. Ryan had named one of his sons Reese in Jimmie's honor. in 1992, he was honorary captain of the American League All-Star team. After Jimmie died, his locker at Anaheim Stadium was encased in Plexiglas.
Sources: Pat Doyle's Professional Baseball Player Database, The Big Book of Jewish Baseball by Peter Horvitz and Joachim Horvitz
