Was Reese Really Better Than Rizzuto?
PLUS: RETURN OF REAL-LIFE 'LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN'
THE FIRST 2026 BASEBALL BOOK — CLICK HERE TO ORDER:
https://actapublications.com/here-s-the-pitch-2026
Pregame Pepper
With son Preston the general manager of the Phillies, look for Don Mattingly to jump aboard as bench coach under John Thomson — a friend from their days together with the Yankees . . .
Can’t imagine ex-Braves coaches Rick Kranitz and Fredi Gonzalez unemployed long…
When Brandon Woodruff accepted his $22 million qualifying offer from Milwaukee, it increased the trade chances of staff ace Freddy Peralta . . .
The cost-cutting Astros could be considering offers for Carlos Correa, who moved from short to third only because Houston already had Jeremy Pena . . .
Tampa Bay first baseman Yandy Diaz, a former batting champion, can be had this winter though acquiring teams need to consider his declining defense . . .
The Rays really believe Tropicana Field will be off the IL and ready to be re-occupied for the 2026 campaign.
Leading Off
Pee Wee Reese vs Phil Rizzuto : A Quick Look
By Paul Semendinger
From time to time, I see and hear comments that infer or claim that there is an anti-Yankees bias in the Hall of Fame selection process.
As an example of this, it was recently suggested that since Pee Wee Reese got in the Hall of Fame well before Phil Rizzuto, another similar contemporary player, that the voters of the time were somehow against the Yankees. Reese was elected to the Hall in 1984 but Rizzuto didn’t get in until 1994.
For the record, I do not believe that there is an anti-Yankees bias in Hall of Fame voting. In fact, there are more Yankees in the Hall of Fame than representatives of any other team.
Still, since I have heard that Rizzuto and Reese were essentially the same player, I decided to examine this in greater detail. I wondered, why did Reese get so much more Hall of Fame support so much sooner than Rizzuto?
On the surface, the two players were very similar:
They were both smaller baseball players, with Reese standing at 5’10” and Rizzuto at 5’6”
They both played shortstop in New York in the same era
They both played in a lot of World Series
Neither player hit for much power
Neither player hit even .280 for their careers.
They seemed very similar, until closer examination:
Pee Wee Reese played 16 seasons, Phil Rizzuto 13. (Both served for three years in World War II.)
Reese was a 10-time All-Star, while Rizzuto was an All-Star five times.
Reese had 2,170 hits, Rizzuto 1,588.
Reese hit 126 homers, Rizzuto 38.
The only arguments in favor of Phil Rizzuto were that he was on more World Series teams (9 to 7) and more World Series winners (7 to 1) and that he also won an MVP. Still, Reese earned MVP votes in 13 different seasons compared to Rizzuto’s eight.
Overall, Pee Wee Reese earned 68.5 WAR, Phil Rizzuto 42.1. Among shortstops, all- time, Reese sits in 14th place in WAR just above Ernie Banks, Joe Cronin, and Lou Boudreau.
Phil Rizzuto ranks in 42nd place with the lowest WAR of any Hall of Fame shortstop in the 20th Century.
This isn’t an article to state that Phil Rizzuto does not belong in the Hall of Fame. Ted Williams claimed that Rizzuto was the difference between the great Yankees teams and his Red Sox. There are times when a player’s value cannot be measured only by numbers.
Phil Rizzuto was a legendary Yankee. Rizzuto’s overall Hall of Fame worthiness is a topic for another day. For now, it is clear that when comparing the two players by the numbers, Pee Wee Reese was clearly the superior player. Reese is a no-doubt Hall of Famer.
Paul Semendinger’s newest books West Point at Gettysburg, Vol. 1 and The Greatest New York Yankees By Uniform Number will both be released in 2026.
Cleaning Up
Female Ballplayers Get New Opportunity
By Dan Schlossberg
A League Of Their Own is back.
More than 30 years after Geena Davis wore a chest protector she made famous, a real-life replay of ‘A League Of Their Own’ is ramping up for 2026.
After staging tryouts for some 600 women at Nationals Park last August, the Women’s Pro Baseball League will launch its first season next August — after completion of the Women’s Baseball World Cup, scheduled for Rockford, IL from July 22-26.
Earlier this week, the four-team league staged a player draft. Each member club will be permitted to carry 15 players.
After holding a belated “spring training” that lasts only four days, WPBL clubs will play Thursday-through-Sunday schedules for the duration of their four-week schedule and end with two weeks of playoffs. An All-Star Game will also be included. Each team will play two games per week.
The league will play its entire schedule at Robin Roberts Stadium, a 5,200-seat structure in the Springfield, IL birthplace of the Hall of Fame right-hander. Planned off-season improvements include an LED video board and various other upgrades.
Like the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League of World War 2 vintage, the new women’s league deliberately chose a midwestern location and a ballpark not used for any other baseball games during the late summer.
Teams will represent New York, Boston, Los Angeles, and San Francisco and will feature such players as former Little League World Series hero Mo’ne Davis and current Savannah Bananas pitcher-outfielder Keslie Whitmore.
To qualify for the league, all players must be at least 18 by May 1, 2026.
Games will be seven innings long and allow the use of aluminum bats — not used by professional men’s leagues.
The league will provide housing and, if necessary, translators for players. The athletes will also be paid, with salaries to be determined by their selection order in the pre-season draft. In addition, the women of the new league will receive a cut of the revenue derived from league sponsorships.
Another potential revenue source for select players will come from clinics, media events, and community grassroots efforts to raise awareness of the league and sell tickets.
With practice schedules to be determined by coaches and players, the women of the league will have ample time to return home on off-days for family or job commitments.
All players are responsible for their own training.
The league was conceived by Justine Siegal, the first woman to coach a professional men’s baseball team and to pitch batting practice against a major-league team. She is also the Founder of Baseball for All.
“I am so excited that there will finally be a professional women’s baseball league – it is a dream come true for all the girls and women who play America’s Pastime,” she said.
Legendary baseball pitcher Ayami Sato and former World Series Winning MLB Manager, Cito Gaston, are serving as special advisors to the WPBL.
According to league co-founder Keith Stein, a lawyer and businessman involved in professional sports leagues and team ownership, “We believe that the success of other women’s professional leagues such as the WNBA and NWSL demonstrates the incredible interest and support for women’s sport.”
At least two more teams, plus a national broadcast deal, are expected to sign on soon.
The new league might not have Madonna, Rosie O’Donnell, or Geena Davis but will have the thrill of female competition without the restraints imposed on the players of the ‘40s. It should be fun to watch.
For more information, see www.womensprobaseballleague.com.
HtP weekend editor Dan Schlossberg of Fair Lawn, NJ covers baseball for forbes.com, Memories & Dreams, USA TODAY Sports Weekly, Sports Collectors Digest, and many other outlets. He’s also the author of 43 baseball books. To book him for a talk or broadcast appearance, email ballauthor@gmail.com.
Timeless Trivia: Pros And Cons Of New York
The release of Frankie Montas brings to a close the biggest mistake in the tenure of Mets baseball operations president David Stearns . . .
Often injured, Montas signed a two-year, $36 million deal that produced three wins and a 6.28 ERA in 38 2/3 innings, spread over seven starts . . .
He’ll earn $17 million next season even if he never throws a pitch . . .
Coupled with the ill-conceived Sean Manaea contract (three years, $75 million), the Mets had a pair of albatross starters in their 2025 rotation . . .
The team also had a $340 million payroll, joining the fat-cat Dodgers as the only clubs over the $300 million plateau . . .
Aaron Judge, on the other hand, is well worth his $300 million deal: the American League MVP finished first in batting average, on-base percentage, slugging, OPS, runs scored, bWAR, and fWAR . . .
The towering right-fielder of the Yankees was just the third player to produce a batting title and 50 home runs in the same season . . .
Despite the Judge accomplishments, Seattle slugger Cal Raleigh was voted both Player of the Year and American League Outstanding Player of the Year by the MLB Players Association.
Know Your Editors
Here’s the Pitch is published daily except Sundays and holidays. Benjamin Chase [gopherben@gmail.com] handles the Monday issue with Dan Freedman [dfreedman@lionsgate.com] editing Tuesday and Jeff Kallman [easyace1955@outlook.com] at the helm Wednesday and Thursday. Original editor Dan Schlossberg [ballauthor@gmail.com], does the weekend editions on Friday and Saturday. Former editor Elizabeth Muratore [nymfan97@gmail.com] is now co-director [with Benjamin Chase and Jonathan Becker] of the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America, which publishes this newsletter and the annual ACTA book of the same name. Readers are encouraged to contribute comments, articles, and letters to the editor. HtP reserves the right to edit for brevity, clarity, and good taste.