Today – May 13 – is the 73rd anniversary of, “the embrace”, that moment when Pee Wee Reese left his spot at shortstop prior to the beginning of the inning with the Dodgers in the field and walked over to Jackie Robinson who was standing alone at first base and taking all kinds of abuse from the fans in Cincinnati.
The story goes that he put his arm around Jackie, they smiled and spoke briefly, and the crowd was silenced. Pee Wee, besides being an exceptional teammate, also understood the abuse as for quite some time he was heckled for having Jackie as his double play partner.