So Cal's All-Time Roster: No. 50

He was born James Herman "Hymie" Soloman in 1901 but decided to go under the assumed name, Jimmie Reese. A bat boy for the Pacific Coast League's Angels, from 1913 to 1919. Traded to the New York Yankees in 1927, he was called up in '30 and joked that he was the roomate of Babe Ruth's suitcase. That year, he hit .346 in 188 at bats as a backup second baseman to Tony Lazzeri.
Fast forward to 1933, when the PCL's Angels bought his contract. He hit .330 in 104 games, then hit .311 in '34.
In 1972, at age 71, he asked the Angels if he could be their conditioning coach. Put a fungo bat in his hand, and he found his place with the team. Gabriel Schechter, a researcher at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, witnessed Reese's magic with the fungo bat when he visited the Angels' spring training camp in the late 1980s. "One morning I watched Reese wielding his fungo bat while a good-sized group of Angel players gathered around," Schechter recalled. "One player stationed himself behind a home plate about 40 feet away from Reese, while other players caught the ball for him and even dropped it down for him to hit it. Reese started with the bat resting lightly on his shoulder, and when the ball was dropped he would drop the bat effortlessly and thwack the ball to the catcher, crossing the strike zone nearly every time. He wasn't just tapping it, he was hitting it. They said he used to pitch batting practice by hitting the ball with his fungo bat. The man was a magician and the players loved him."
Reese wore No. 63 originally, switched to No. 23 in '72 and '73, then took No. 50 when Dick Williams came on to manage the team in 1974.
While still employed with the team, Reese died at age 92 in July, '94. Reese served 23 years with the Angels - only Bobby Knoop, with six years as a player and 22 years as a coach, had longer service with the Angels.
The Angels retired his number, and Nolan Ryan named one of his sons Reese as a tribute to him.
Some 400 friends including Yankee pitcher Jim Abbot and Ryan attended Jimmie’s memorial service. Doug Rader, former Angels manager, said: "We’re the ones that have died a little bit because he’s not around anymore.”

Other No. 50s:
==Dave Dalby, UCLA football ('69-'71), Raiders ('82-'85, started wearing it in '72)
==Jay Howell, Dodgers ('88-'92)
==Sam Clancy, USC men’s basketball ('99-'02)
==Dan Gadzuric, UCLA basketball ('98-'02)

Sports Illustrated's choice for the all-time No. 50: David Robinson, over Mike Singletary.

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