While known primarily for his time with the Brooklyn Dodgers, Reiser later played for the Boston Braves, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Cleveland Indians.

A native of St. Louis, Missouri, Reiser signed with his hometown Cardinals, but at age 19 he was among a group of minor league players declared free agents by Commissioner of Baseball Kenesaw Mountain Landis.[why?]

[3] On July 19 of the following year, Reiser crashed face-first into the outfield wall in St. Louis, trying to catch what turned out to be a game-winning inside-the-park home run by Enos Slaughter of the rival Cardinals in the bottom of the 11th inning.

He fractured his skull running into an outfield wall on one occasion (but still made the throw back to the infield), was temporarily paralyzed on another, and was taken off the field on a stretcher nearly a dozen times.

He was never the same hitter he was early in his career, but was still as fast as ever, leading the NL in stolen bases and stealing home a record seven times in 1946.

[citation needed] In 1948, Ebbets Field became the first ballpark with padded outfield walls due to Reiser's penchant for running into them.

He served as a coach on Los Angeles Dodger manager Walter Alston's staff from 1960 to 1964 (including the 1963 world championship team).