1953 Bowman Pee Wee Reese Held the Moment

Has there ever been a baseball card that’s inspired more dreams of the diamond than the 1953 Bowman Pee Wee Reese.

Now, in case you have been living under second base for the last 70 years, or in case you’re a devout Dodger hater, let me give you a visual to set the stage:

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Sure, the photo isn’t fully in register and, yes, Pee Wee is wearing red sleeves instead of Dodger Blue … but all that almost makes this thing more mystical, more amazing.

I mean … why the red?

And the grainy-ish photo just makes you think of old 50s noir mysteries and secrets you’re never meant to know, doesn’t it? Secrets taught by Brooklyn Dodgers manager Chuck Dressen or general manager Branch Rickey, or secrets taught by Reese’s teammate Jackie Robinson.

You know Jackie saw and heard and experienced stuff, dark stuff, that we still don’t really know all about, and probably never will.

And speaking of Jackie, where is the Dodgers’ superstar on this play? Probably just out of frame, you have to think, maybe bouncing out of the baseline after having shoveled the ball to Pee Wee to start a double play.

And who is the runner sprawled there on the ground? Maybe a Cub, based on the blue hat, or maybe another Dodger … the background makes you think this is a Spring Training shot, right?

If it is Spring Training, maybe that explains the red sleeves — an intrasquad game where one “team” wears red sleeves to differentiate itself from the other half of the club?

Hmmm ….

Speculation is fun, and that’s part of the mystique of this card. Anything seems possible.

And speaking of the background, like we were a couple paragraphs back, the park is desolate behind Reese.

Like your backyard.

Or like a sandlot in the early spring, or in the fall, or as evening nibbles around the edges of your vision, just as it snacks on the field of this image.

Those thoughts make you think that Pee Wee is sorta like you.

And … if Pee Wee is sorta like you … well, maybe you could be sorta like Pee Wee, some day.

Maybe you could soar into the gloaming above second base and hang there forever, fully in control of your destiny. Sure, you could throw the ball to first, get that second out.

Or you could just enjoy the moment. Make it last. Revel in the idea that few occasions in life could ever be so perfect.

Would you throw that rock?

Or would you hold on, for just a few lifetimes more?