St. Catherine said: “Empty the soul of self to make room for the grace of the Savior.” And,  “I must decrease, that He may increase,” declared John the Baptist.  

Maybe it is best, to learn about the most important things in life thru stories of the Saints.

The Roman widow, St. Sophia (Wisdom), and her three daughters suffered for the Faith under the Emperor Hadrian.  St. Faith, age 12, was scourged, thrown into boiling pitch, taken out alive, and beheaded; St. Hope, age 10, and St. Charity, age 9, being unhurt in a furnace where they would not burn, were also beheaded; and their mother, St. Sophia, suffered while being forced to witness her daughters martyrdom and died of heartbreak. 

Maybe it is best, as St John Paul II said:  “We must die to ourselves in order to will the good of another person.”  So it was, with a man nicknamed Pee Wee.

Some consider the Pee Wee Reese to Jackie Robinson double-play the best duo ever!

There were Tinkers and Evers, the only other pair to make baseball’s Hall of Fame; but they never spoke off the field.  Morgan and Concepcion had the most Gold Gloves, the former in the Hall the latter not; the longest living pair of Trammell and Whitaker who own the record for double-plays, but only Trammell is in the Hall.  Reese has the Iconic name – Robinson the Iconic Role.

In the 1947 season, some Dodgers players began circulating a petition about the apparent “Calling Up” of the talented African-American, Jackie Robinson, to the Majors.  The petition stated “If you bring up Robinson, trade us. We won’t play.” However, the popular Reese refused to sign the petition and it died.

When a sportswriter asked Reese if he was threatened by Robinson, Reese simply responded, “If he can take my job, he’s entitled to it.”

In Cincinnati during pre-game infield practice the fan abuse was unbelievable, Reese, the captain of the team, went over to Robinson, started a conversation with him, and put his arm around his shoulder in a gesture of support that silenced the crowd.

This moment of solidarity between Robinson and Reese in Cincinnati sparked a gradual decline in vile fan behavior by 1948.  Roger Kahn’s classic 1972 book The Boys of Summer:  stated, that Reese’s gesture to Jackie Robinson is “Baseball’s finest moment.”

Jackie’s wife, Rachel Robinson, said, “I thought it was a very supportive gesture, and very instinctive on Pee Wee’s part. You shouldn’t forget that Pee Wee was the captain, and he led the way. Pee Wee was more than a friend. Pee Wee was a good man.” A wise man seeks the good of the other.  Ain’t it so!

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