Marvin Hagler was a better than average boxer. So good was he that he became known as "Marvelous" Marvin Hagler. William Perry, during his NFL playing years was larger than life. To teammates, opponents, and fans he became known as "The Fridge". NHL's Henri Richard was on the small size. Because of his height, and great hockey ability, he became titled "The Pocket Rocket". Thanks to hair color, golf's Jack Nicklaus was headlined as "The Golden Bear". In basketball the man who delivered, Karl Malone, was called "The Mailman". I have no idea how George Herman "Babe" Ruth got his moniker.

In life, and certainly in sports, much is said of the nickname one is tagged with. On July 23, 1918 a future star of baseball was born in Kentucky. He was given the name Harold Henry Reese. In time few called him Harold, and most baseball fans just knew the adult as Pee Wee Reese. A name he earned the hard way. While scrawny he was five foot ten inches tall, and weighed 160 pounds. Not exactly runt material. One spin on how the nickname came to be was that sports writers gave it to him. When he joined the Dodger organization on April 23, 1940 they already had a player named Harold Reiser.

That was two Harold's too many for the sportswriters. Worse one was a Reiser one was a Reese. At that time stories were called in rapidly as games were played. The chance of getting one player mistaken for the other was great. Sports fans, not to mention sports players, did not like mistakes. So Harold Reiser became Pistol Pete, and Harold Reese became Pee Wee. Or so the story goes.

Mr. Reese, who should know, often said he got the label from his skills at a popular game of his youth called marbles. One version of the game was opponents placing marbles within the confines of a circle drawn in dirt. Each player had a shooter marble. It was always smaller and heavier. The object was to use your fingers and thumb to flick the shooter marble, called a pee wee, from outside the ring and hit your foes marbles. With any luck you either hit their marble out of the ring, or at least closer to the edge of the ring for a later shot. You miss an opponents marble, it was the next persons turn. Whoever had marbles left in the ring at the end of the game won everybody else's marbles.

Harold became Pee Wee to his marble victims. It was in recognition of his skill. It was in hopes of warning other potential marble shooters. Kids, till this day, grow up and leave one game for another. Marbles loss, baseball's gain.

It was a long trip from that marbles ring to Baseball's Hall of Fame for Pee Wee Reese. He was just too skinny the coaches' thought, just so so talent. However, to the coaches' surprise, he was consistent in his play. Day in and day out you could bank on him to do what needed done. Not an easy thing to find in some of the ego driven ball players of the day. In 1940 the Brooklyn Dodgers decided to see how he would work out at shortstop. Nobody suspected much would happen. However, the possibility of war was present. It was just smart for ball clubs to have players for back up on the payroll. While he worked out well at shortstop he found himself on a different payroll at the end of the 1942 season. Uncle Sam's US Navy needed his skills in the Pacific, but he did not leave his glove at home. In down times he played ball on the Navy's military's team. He traveled from base to base with his teammates. While keeping his skills sharp, the main purpose was to keep troop moral up. Along the way he became life long friends with another scrawny shortstop named Phil Rizzuto. However, the military team only needed one shortstop, Pee Wee got the nod, Rizzuto got third base.

After the atomic bombs were dropped, and the war all but ended, Pee Wee was sent home with thousands of others. The Brooklyn Dodgers welcomed Mr. Reliable back into the fold. He stayed with the organization till 1958. One season after the team moved to Los Angeles, Ca. he retired. Along the way his career statistics were a .269 batting average, one hundred and twenty-six home runs and 851 RBI's. He also managed to garnish 232 stolen bases along with a few other honors. In 1947 he led the league in walks. 1949 saw him leading the league in runs. Not slowing down in 1952 he led the league in stolen bases. He earned "All Star" Honors ten times in the years 1942 then 1946 through 1954. As the Captain of the Dodgers he lead them to seven pennants during his reign. He was no Pee Wee in the game of baseball and the fans knew it.

On July 22, 1951, a day after his 2,000th hit, Ebbets Field threw a birthday party for the now 33 year old. It was the first time in baseball history a night was dedicated to a player. The fans were asked to bring nothing but applause, and they did in abundance. Later that year he led his team to the first World Championship in club history.

After baseball he kept in the public eye as a broadcaster. Perhaps he is best remembered as Dizzy Dean's "podner" on the Saturday afternoon "Game of the Week" series. Some may recall him as the pitchman for a baseball bat called the "Louisville Slugger". Others may just remember him for the man he was. A good man who loved life, people, and the game of baseball. It was "Pee Wee" who in front of hateful fans and opposing players put his arm around the first black ballplayer on his team. Pee Wee knew skill when he saw it, and he welcomed Jackie Robinson. With that support, and time, Reese and Robinson won the fans over.

Despite it all getting into the Hall Of Fame was not an easy matter. Writers argued his stats were only mediocre, there were better ball playing candidates out there. Moving into the HOF was not of question of morals, or being liked. It was strictly about ones skills at baseball. It was not until 1984 the Veterans Committee of Cooperstown HOF gave him the nod. Some may point out that it only happened because he played so long. Others say it was only because he played on one of the most dominating teams of the time. Still more just said, "About Time".

Entering the Hall of Fame is the crowning glory of a baseball career. When the day came for Harold Henry Reese to enter he had a friend by his side. Somebody he served with during World War Two forty years before. Somebody he beat out for the position of shortstop. Somebody he beat into the Hall of Fame. Somebody who caused him grief as a shortstop for an opposing team on the other side of town. New York Yankee's Phil Rizutto was there for his friend. Ten years later, in 1994, he joined him at the hall. Five years later Pee Wee Reese joined another team. On August 14, 1999 Harold Henry Reese was buried in Louisville, Ky. The home of his very first professional appearance as a ball player. He became the star shortstop for the American Association Louisville Colonels. It was there, as a teenager and still growing, he became known as "The Little Colonel". As an adult, at 5'10", Pee Wee became a giant.

Sometimes nicknames just tell part of the story.