Nine Other Players Who Debuted in 1940
Pee Wee Reese
Elmer Valo
Marty Marion
Walker Cooper
Dom DiMaggio
Pete Reiser
Harry Brecheen
Harry Walker
Stan Spence
The 1941 NL batting champion, Pete Reiser lost three seasons to war, parts of several to injury, and never realized the greatness that seemed to be his destiny. He was a hustler, like Enos Slaughter and Pete Rose after him, sprinting down the first baseline on every groundball, breaking up double plays, sliding hard into enemy fielders, diving for fly balls, and crashing into fences. His go-for-broke playing style proved to be his Achilles heel.
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.
Pee Wee Reese got his nickname as a young champion marble shooter; a “pee wee” is a type of marble. A Kentucky native, he earned the monicker The Little Colonel as the star shortstop on the Louisville Colonels (American Association). After his arrival in Brooklyn, he was named captain of the Dodgers, and many called him The Captain. The title was well earned, as he was the leader of Dodger teams that won seven pennants in the 1940s and 1950s. When Jackie Robinson arrived in Brooklyn amid enormous pressures and player resentment, it was Reese who set the example of acceptance, putting his arm around Robinson’s shoulder on the field, showing the world he was Robinson’s teammate and friend.
Dom DiMaggio
The youngest and smallest of the three DiMaggio brothers, the bespectacled centerfielder was a perennial All-Star with the Red Sox for 11 seasons, missing three years of his prime because of WWII. Twice DiMaggio, together with Ted Williams, was part of a .300-hitting outfield, once in his rookie year of 1940 with Doc Cramer in right field, and again 10 years later in 1950 with Al Zarilla in right. A slick fielder, fans used to yell that he played his own position as well as the slow-footed Williams’s spot in left field. DiMaggio set the pace for consistency, hitting in 34 straight games in 1949, and another 27 straight in 1951, and scored more than 100 runs seven times. In the 1946 Series, he scored the deciding run in Game Five to give the Red Sox a 3-2 edge in the Series, eventually lost in seven games to the Cardinals on Enos Slaughter’s dash for home. Twice DiMaggio led the league in at-bats from his leadoff spot, and twice in runs scored. He shared the outfield with brother Joe in three All-Star games, and drove him in with a single in the 1941 game.
Walker Cooper
“He was just about the strongest man I’ve ever known,” said Ewell Blackwell. Enos Slaughter called him “one of the best behind the plate,” adding, “He was a great guy…very good-natured.” Walker Cooper was a 6’3″ 210-lb heavy hitter and practical joker who was named to every NL All-Star squad 1942-50 (there was no game in 1945). After three World Series with St. Louis (where he was older brother Mort’s batterymate), Walker was sold to the Giants in 1945. The Giants paid the then-princely sum of $175,000 while Cooper was still in the Navy. His best year was with the 1947 Giants, batting .305 with 122 RBI and contributing 35 of the club’s 221 homers, a NL record
Marty Marion
Probably the best defensive shortstop in the National League in the 1940s, Marty Marion defied the conventional wisdom of what a shortstop should look like. Tall, slender, and long-armed, Marion gobbled up grounders at short and solidified the middle of the infield for four Cardinals’ pennant-winning teams. The eight-time All-Star won the 1944 NL Most Valuable Player Award despite batting just .267 with six homers and 63 RBI. His defensive prowess was legendary and important to his team’s success. He retired at the age of 33 to manage the Cardinals, guiding them to a third-place finish before going cross-town to lead the Browns for two seasons as a player/manager. His teammates and many contemporaries continue to campaign for his induction into the Hall of Fame.
Elmer Valo
Elmer William Valo was born in Czechoslovakia but lived the American dream during nearly sixty years in professional baseball. He insisted he was not a “natural athlete,” saying, “Being a baseball player is not a glamorous job, it’s hard work.”
HARRY BRECHEEN
Brecheen became the first lefthander to record three wins in a World Series, doing so against the Red Sox in 1946. The screwballer blanked Boston 3-0 in Game Two on a four-hitter. In addition, he singled in the Cardinals’ first run, and his sacrifice bunt set up his team’s two other runs. In Game Six, “The Cat,” named for his expert fielding and cat-like movements, once again beat Mickey Harris. With one day’s rest, he pitched two innings of relief in Game Seven to pick up his third win. He had a 0.45 ERA in the Series, and his lifetime WS ERA of 0.83 is the best ever.
Brecheen’s finest season came in 1948 when he led the NL in winning percentage (.741, 20-7), ERA (2.24), strikeouts (149), and shutouts (7). He was one of 61 players to play for both the Cardinals and Browns.
Stan Spence
Spence was a superlative outfielder with fine range and throwing ability, and a left-handed hitter with some power. He batted a career-high .323 and led the AL with 15 triples for Washington in 1942, his first year as a regular. In 1944 he drove in 100 runs but spent 1945 in the military. Holding his own with returning veterans, he hit 50 doubles in 1946, and in 1947 became an AL All-Star for the fourth time
Harry Walker
The son of major league pitcher Ewart “Dixie” Walker and brother of 1944 NL batting champ Fred “Dixie” Walker, Harry is the only player to win a NL batting title playing for two teams in the same season (and the Walker brothers are the only major league siblings to each win a batting average crown). Harry was hitting .200 through May 3, 1947 when the Cardinals traded him to the Phillies. He pounded the ball for a .371 average the rest of the way to finish at .363. It was to be his only outstanding season.
It was Walker who, in Game Seven of the 1946 WS, drove in Enos Slaughter from first base with the winning run to defeat the Red Sox. He was called Harry the Hat because, at the plate, he would adjust his cap after every pitch. As a result of his tugging, he went through 20 caps a season. He became a manager, taking over the Cardinals from Eddie Stanky for most of 1955 and pinch hitting nine times. He managed Pittsburgh from 1965 through mid-1967 (twice bringing them in third) and Houston from 1968 through late 1972. He continued in baseball as a batting coach.
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Read more about the 1940 Season
Full list of players who debuted
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