"Being Captain of the Dodgers meant representing an organization committed to winning and trying to keep it going. We could have won every year if the breaks had gone right." Source: Pee Wee Reese was no Pee Wee (Harvey Frommer, 1995)

"Brooklyn was the most wonderful city a man could play in, and the fans there were the most loyal there were." Source: CNN/SI (uk, uk)

"Diz (Dizzy Dean), you've watched this pitcher out there for four innings, and he's doing a great job. What would you say he's been throwing out there?" Dean replied, "Well Pee Wee, I have been watching him for four innings and I believe that's a baseball he's throwin." Source: Baseball Digest (May 1974)

"I didn't want to play there when I first found out I was sold to Brooklyn, but I'm tickled to death. I'm glad I could play in Brooklyn." Source: The Quiet Ambassador: The Pee Wee Reese Story (ESPN \ ABC Video, 1996)

"If I had my career to play over, one thing I'd do differently is swing more. Those 1,200 walks I got, nobody remembers them." Source: The McFarland Baseball Quotations Dictionary (David H. Nathan, 2000)

"If you rush in and out of the clubhouse, you rush in and out of baseball." Source: Widely Attributed

"I get a lot of credit and I appreciate it, but after a while, I thought of him (Jackie Robinson) as I would Duke Snider or Gil Hodges or anyone else. We never thought of this as a big deal. We were just playing ball and having fun." Source: Pee Wee Reese was no Pee Wee (Harvey Frommer, 1995)

"I had only played five games in my senior year in high school. I was not large enough. Hell, when I graduated, I was about five foot four and weighed 120 pounds. I didn't go with the Dodgers until spring training of 1940 and I weighed all of 155 pounds soaking wet. Looking like I was sixteen, I guess. When I got there, I didn't know any of the fellas on the team, and I was scared to death. Wherever they went, they took me with them. Why did they do it? Beats the hell out of me. I was just a scared kid from Kentucky, and these guys had been up in the majors for a while. I guess it was because I was just such a helluva nice kid - if you'll accept that." Source: Bums (Peter Golenbock, 1984)

"I used to tell Jackie (Robinson) sometimes when they were throwing at him, 'Jackie, they aren't throwing at you because you are black. They are throwing at you because they don't like you." Source: The McFarland Baseball Quotations Dictionary (David H. Nathan, 2000)

"Thinking about the things that happened, I don't know any other ball player would could have done what he (Jackie Robinson) did. To be able to hit with everybody yelling at him. He had to block all that out, block out everything but this ball that is coming in at a hundred miles an hour and he's got a split second to make up his mind if it's in or out or down or coming at his head, a split second to swing. To do what he did has got to be the most tremendous thing I've ever seen in sports." Source: The Boys of Summer (Roger Kahn, 1970)

"Against all odds, Pee Wee Reese earned an opportunity to play professional baseball, start for the Dodgers, play in several World Series, and be enshrined in the Hall of Fame. He did the little things that helped his teams win: bunt the runner over, go from first to third on a base hit, or range into the hole for a grounder. He was the best shortstop in the National League in the late 1940s and into the 1950s." - TheBaseballPage.com (link)

"I thought it was a very supportive gesture (refusing to sign a petition that threatened a boycott if Jackie Robinson joined the team), and very instinctive on Pee Wee's part. You shouldn't forget that Pee Wee was the captain, and he led the way. When Jack first entered (the Major Leagues), there were still a lot of people who didn't know if it was the right thing to do. Pee Wee used all of his leadership skills and sensitivity to bring the team together... Pee Wee was more than a friend. Pee Wee was a good man." - Rachel Robinson (Jackie Robinson's Wife) in Jet (September 13, 1999)

"I was warming up on the mound, and I could hear the Cincinnati players screaming at Jackie... and then they started to get on Pee Wee. They were yelling at him, 'How can you play with this nigger?' and all this stuff, and while Jackie was standing by first base, Pee Wee went over to him and put his arm around him as if to say, 'This is my boy. This is the guy. We're gonna win with him.' Well, it drove the Cincinnati players right through the ceiling, and you could have heard the gasp from the crowd as he did it. That's one reason Pee Wee was such an instrumental person contributing to Jackie's success, Pee Wee more than anyone else, because Pee Wee was from the South. Pee Wee understood things a little better... They became very close friends, and they understood each other." - Teammate / Pitcher Rex Barney in Bums (Peter Golenbock, 1984)

"Pee Wee didn’t want accolades, but he had an ego and he knew that he was an exceptional athlete, and had been blessed with attributes far more important than size. He was brimming with things that made him a leader, one filled with class beyond compare." - Sports Columnist Earl Cox in The Voice-Tribune (08/18/1998)

"Pee Wee helped make my boyhood dream come true to play in the Majors, the World Series. When Pee Wee reached out to Jackie, all of us in the Negro League smiled and said it was the first time that a wWhite guy had accepted us. When I finally got up to Brooklyn, I went to Pee Wee and said, 'Black people love you. When you touched Jackie, you touched all of us.' With Pee Wee, it was number one on his uniform and number one in our hearts." - Teammate / Pitcher Joe Black (Reese Funeral Eulugy, Luisville, Kentucky)

"Pee Wee whether you are willing to admit what your being just a great guy meant (a great deal) to my career, I want you to know how much I feel it meant. May I take this opportunity to say a great big thanks and I sincerely hope all things you want in life be yours. Best to the family. Sincerely, Jackie Robinson." - Jackie Robinson Inscription to Pee Wee Reese in Wait Till Next Year (Sothebys Auction, Reese Estate)

"Reese was the force that kept the Dodgers together in the clubhouse. Any player who had a personal problem would always make his way to Reese’s cubicle, as he took him under his wing and offered friendly and helpful advice." - Walter O'Malley Website (link)

"Think of the guts that (refusing to sign a petition that threatened a boycott if Jackie Robinson joined the team) took. Pee Wee had to go home (to segregated Louisville, Kentucky) and answer to his friends. I told Jackie later that (Reese's gesture) helped my race more than his." - Teammate / Pitcher Carl Erksine in Jet (September 13, 1999)

"What a decent human being. How much he helped me. But he refuses to take the credit." - Jackie Robinson (widely attributed)

Hall of Fame Plaque

HAROLD HENRY "PEE WEE" REESE
BROOKLYN N.L. 1940-1957
LOS ANGELES N.L. 1958
SHORTSTOP AND CAPTAIN OF GREAT DODGER TEAMS OF
1940'S AND 50'S. INTANGIBLE QUALITIES OF SUBTLE
LEADERSHIP ON AND OFF FIELD. COMPETITIVE FIRE
AND PROFESSIONAL PRIDE COMPLEMENTED DEPENDABLE
GLOVE, RELIABLE BASE-RUNNING AND CLUTCH-HITTING
AS SIGNIFICANT FACTORS IN 7 DODGER PENNANTS.
INSTRUMENTAL IN EASING ACCEPTANCE OF JACKIE
ROBINSON AS BASEBALL'S FIRST BLACK PERFORMER.

Quotes From & About Pee Wee Reese