Books and articles about Branch Rickey

The honorific The Mahatma combined respect for Rickey's baseball sagacity with amusement at his pontifical manner and florid speech, which gave him the air of a con man playing a parson. He could have been either, but essentially he was that traditional American type, the sharp trader. The basis of his success was a nearly infallible eye for baseball talent. Over and over again, he saw the potential in raw youth (George Sisler, Dizzy Dean), brought hidden qualities to light (Billy Cox, Preacher Roe), and calculated precisely the productive time left in a veteran (Dixie Walker, Joe Medwick).

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For the discovery and nurture of such talent he elaborated the primitive device of "farming out" into a network of 32 minor league clubs controlling a "chain gang" of some 600 players. Their quality was so high that the parent club, the once-floundering Cardinals, became a National League power, and so numerous that at one time some 65 Cardinal graduates could be found playing in the majors. As the organization grew under Rickey's direction, he sustained it with a handpicked faculty of managers, coaches, and scouts to give the youngsters big-league polish. It was a complete change of purpose and focus for the minor leagues, and it was fought by Commissioner Landis for its effect on the competitiveness and independence of minor league clubs. In 1937 Landis released 91 Cardinal farmhands, who were property of St. Louis in a way that is now the norm, but seemed threatening to organized baseball at the time. But the benefits for major league teams were obvious, and too tempting to ignore; within a decade, Rickey's idea had been universally adopted.

Moving on to the Dodgers, who would become the Cardinals' challengers and successors, he created the spring-training complex at Vero Beach, where players by the hundreds could be instructed, evaluated, and assigned. And he encouraged such innovations as batting cages, pitching machines, batting helmets, and a string outline of the strike zone rigged over home plate for pitchers working on control.

Rickey's all-seeing eye enhanced his knack for trades, for he always knew precisely the players he wanted and exactly the players he was prepared to give up. Add to this his psychological ploys and circumlocutory argument, and his trading partners often departed shirtless, but persuaded he had done them a favor. Perhaps the eye also prompted the most significant action of his career: destruction of baseball's persistent discrimination against blacks. For however noble his motives, he was undeniably the first beneficiary of the change. It certainly was a brave move to sign Jackie Robinson, breaking the silently-upheld color barrier that had existed since the 1880s. But by exploiting the Negro Leagues as a new source of talent, Rickey built a dynasty that won the NL pennant seven times from 1947 through 1956.

Rickey was not much of a ballplayer himself, although he came to the Reds in 1904 well-recommended as a catcher. A youthful vow to his mother would not allow him to suit up on Sundays, however, or even carry his gear to the depot if it was a travel day. Manager Joe Kelley, a no-nonsense old Oriole, cut him before he ever caught a game. The Browns and Highlanders (later renamed the Yankees) tried him as a backup catcher until an injured throwing arm ended his playing career. At New York, he was behind the plate on a day Washington stole 13 bases.

By 1913 he had coached at the University of Michigan (where George Sisler was a pitcher), earned a law degree, and taken a front-office job with the Browns. Toward the season's end he replaced George Stovall as field manager. His record was well under .500, and he never got along with Phil Ball, who took over the Browns in the maneuvering that divided the Federal League spoils. In 1919, after brief military service, Rickey became president and field manager of the Cardinals. Soon he began his long and profitable partnership with hardheaded Sam Breadon, the automobile dealer turned baseball magnate.

The Cardinals were chronic losers, with two third-place finishes as their finest achievements since 1892. The cashbox was empty. The team was wearing used uniforms. Breadon, now president, made a public stock offering to raise capital. Rickey, now vice president, made his first investment in a minor league farm team. Branch also managed for seven seasons, again slightly under .500. After finishes between third place and seventh place, Breadon ousted him as manager in favor of a harder head, Rogers Hornsby, who promptly took the squad Rickey had assembled to the first of many Cardinals pennants and World Championships.

Rickey was now a man of prominence. Yet with success came other qualities less easy to fathom. The jowly lawyer, with his bushy eyebrows, bow ties, and big cigars, was a slick article, an ambiguous personality. As manager he had arranged substitutes for Sunday games, usually Burt Shotten, who had been with him on the Browns and would turn up again in Brooklyn. Cynics used to say there was a vantage point outside Sportsman's Park where Rickey could watch the game through field glasses, technically not on the premises, but happy enough to profit from the doubleheader crowds who were. He neither cursed ("Judas Priest" was his strongest expletive), nor did he drink, and he was a frequent and moralistic speaker at boys' clubs and YMCAs. Yet he played baseball's cozy gentleman's agreements to the limits in waiving players, he diddled his minor league rosters, and double-talked his players into contracts for stingy salaries. In this, of course, he was not unique, just more sanctimonious.

He was equally successful in Brooklyn in the 1940s, crowning his achievement with the skillfully manipulated introduction of Jackie Robinson. He was eventually squeezed out of the picture by Walter O'Malley, but even after moving to Los Angeles, the Dodgers continued to be successfully run according to his principles. In 1950 he undertook to put new life into the Pirates, but the Mahatma's magic was gone. After five doormat finishes, Joe L. Brown stepped in to take his place. However, Rickey did succeed in making the batting helmet standard gear during his time in Pittsburgh.

In 1959 Rickey launched an effort to form a third major league, the Continental League. The majors reacted with alarm. They could not confront the new venture directly without raising antitrust concerns, so they preempted the new league's prime franchises in the expansion of 1961-62, an expansion Rickey had long advocated. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1967 by the Veterans Committee. (ADS)

FROM THE BASEBALL CHRONOLOGY » February 27, 1907: The Yankees acquire C Branch Rickey from the Browns in exchange for INF Joe Yeager. As noted by Lyle Spatz, Rickey will not play on Sundays, while new backstop Buelow will. » June 28, 1907: The last place Washington Nationals steal a record 13 bases off C Branch Rickey in a 16-5 win over New York. Rickey, acquired last February from the Browns, is pressed into service despite a bad shoulder because of the injury to starter Red Kleinow. Rickey's first throw to 2B ends up in right field and the subsequent tosses are not much better. He almost nips Jim Delahanty on a steal of 3B. In his eight innings, relief pitcher Lew Brockett helps Washington with a deliberate windup. Only pitcher Tom Hughes and 2B Nig Perrine are steal-less, while Hal Chase swipes one for New York. » September 6, 1913: Browns interim manager Jimmy Austin is replaced by Branch Rickey. Austin took over for George Stovall (50-84). » January 9, 1915: The National Commission declares University of Michigan senior George Sisler a free agent after a 2-year fight. The Pirates' owner Barney Dreyfuss claimed rights to Sisler, who had signed a contract as a minor but never played pro ball. After graduating, Sisler will sign with the St. Louis Browns, managed by his former college coach, Branch Rickey. » January 4, 1916: The St. Louis Browns are the first of two ML franchises awarded to Federal League owners. Philip de Catesby Ball, ice-manufacturing tycoon and principal stockholder of the Feds' St. Louis Terriers, pays a reported $525,000 for the Browns and replaces manager Branch Rickey with his own Fielder Jones. » May 8, 1922: Sam Breadon buys controlling interest—72%—in the Cardinals. He and Branch Rickey, who owns the rest of the stock, will combine to create one of baseball's most successful operations. Breadon demotes Rickey to veep, but allows him to remain as field manager. » August 8, 1922: The Giants Shufflin’ Phil Douglas is suspended and fined $100 by John McGraw. (Douglas, an alcoholic, and McGraw did not enjoy the best of relationships after McGraw forced Douglas to undergo a terrible treatment for alcoholism.) Douglas writes a letter to St. Louis Cardinals OF Les Mann, his former roommate at Chicago, offering to disappear if they make it worth his while, lest he help McGraw win the pennant. Mann turns the letter over to Branch Rickey, who relays it to Commissioner Landis. In Pittsburgh on the 16th, Douglas admits he wrote the letter, and Landis bars him from baseball for life. Sadly, when Douglas sobered up he asked Mann to destroy the letter, but Mann had already passed it on. Douglas was 11-4 at the time, with the lowest ERA on the club (2.63). » May 30, 1925: Between games today, Rogers Hornsby is named manager of the Cardinals by Sam Breadon, replacing Branch Rickey, who remains as general manager. An angry Rickey will sell his shares in the team to Hornsby. St. Louis, in last place, drops two games to Pittsburgh, losing 4–1 in the morning and 15–5 in the P.M. contest, despite two homers by the new manager. Playing in front of an overflow crowd at spacious Forbes Field, the Pirates sets a modern National League record by stroking eight triples in the 2nd game; the Cards tally one for a combined record-tying nine triples. The normal rules about balls hit into the crowds being ground-rule doubles is expanded to make them triples today: eight of the three-baggers are ground-rule triples. » September 11, 1932: The Cardinals sign Branch Rickey to a 5-year contract as GM and director of the farm system. » January 15, 1936: IRS figures for 1934 show Branch Rickey as the highest paid man in baseball at $49,470. Commissioner Landis had voluntarily taken a cut in 1933 from $65,000 to $40,000 because of the Depression. » March 23, 1938: Judge Landis frees 74 Cardinal minor leaguers, among them Pete Reiser, in yet another attempt to halt the cover-up he perceived the farm system caused. Larry MacPhail makes a pact with Branch Rickey to take the unknown player and swap him back in the future, but Reiser's ability is too great to hide. » November 1, 1942: Larry MacPhail enters the army. The Dodgers look to St. Louis for leadership. After 2 decades in St. Louis, Branch Rickey splits with owner Sam Breadon. He will sign to become GM at Brooklyn. » December 11, 1942: Cardinals GM Branch Rickey, possibly motivated by a clause in his contract that gives him 20% of the team's profits, trades slugger John Mize to the Giants for three players and $50,000. Yesterday he sold C/OF Don Padgett to Brooklyn for $30,000. Padgett will enter the Navy without playing a game for the Dodgers, and Brooklyn will try unsuccessfully to get their money back from Rickey. » February 20, 1943: Phil Wrigley and Branch Rickey charter the All-American Girls Softball League. The league will operate around the Chicago area and is formed as a sports backup in case the government shuts down ML baseball. The league will later change its name and switch to hardball with a pitching distance of 40 feet and bases 68 feet apart. » July 10, 1943: Brooklyn scores 10 runs in the first and fourth innings as they whip the visiting Pirates 23-6. This follows a pregame attempted strike by the players following Leo Durocher's 3-game suspension of P Bobo Newsom for insubordination. Minutes before the game SS Arky Vaughan handed his uniform to Durocher and refused to play. Durocher called for volunteers to play, but by game time he had just a battery of Curt Davis and Bobby Bragan. Branch Rickey intervened, and Vaughan and the others agreed to play. Newsom, 9-4, will be traded to the Browns on July 15th. » March 30, 1944: Branch Rickey suggests pooling of surplus players if ML 4F players are drafted for military service. Nothing comes of the suggestion. » March 25, 1945: A group of blacks appears at the Dodger offices to ask for tryouts for aging Negro Leaguers P Terris McDuffie and 1B Dave Thomas. The two will work out for Branch Rickey in Brooklyn on April 7. » August 13, 1945: Branch Rickey becomes the principal stockholder of the Dodgers. He and associates Walter O'Malley and John Smith acquire the 50 percent interest of the Ebbets estate for a reported price of $750,000. » October 23, 1945: Branch Rickey announces the signing of Jackie Robinson by the Dodger organization. » October 30, 1945: Branch Rickey signs Jackie Robinson to a Montreal (IL) contract for 1946. Black P John Wright also signs. » April 1, 1947: Branch Rickey deflects pressure on Jackie Robinson by keeping him in Montreal, although it is clear the contending Dodgers can use the 1946 International League batting king. » May 9, 1947: In his first game outside of New York City, Jackie Robinson has two hits and scores twice in the Dodgers 6–5 loss to the Phillies. After the game, the Dodgers give their young first baseman a vote of confidence by selling Howie Schultz, Robby's back up, to the Phils for $50,000. Tomorrow, Branch Rickey announces he's giving up his attempts to pry Johnny Mize away from the Giants. » December 11, 1947: Branch Rickey announces that the Dodgers have signed an agreement with Bud Holman and the city of Vero Beach to rent 104 acres of a former pre-war municipal airport. They will pay $1 a year and take over the maintenance. In 1952 the Dodgers will sign a new 20-year lease for $1 a year, and on March 11, 1953, a new field will be named Holman Stadium. » August 16, 1950: Branch Rickey of the Brooklyn Dodgers denies news reports that Jackie Robinson, last year's MVP, will be traded. The latest tempest was started by the second baseman's comments after he was removed from the lineup on August 12th by Bert Shotton after making an error. "I wouldn't be surprised if I was traded," Jackie was quoted as saying. » September 23, 1950: In what amounts to a political and monetary act of leverage, Brooklyn’s Branch Rickey offers to sell his 25 percent interest to real estate mogul William Zeckendorf. » October 16, 1950: The Brooklyn Dodgers fail to renew Branch Rickey's contract as president. » October 26, 1950: Branch Rickey resigns as president of the Brooklyn Dodgers and Walter O'Malley succeeds him. Rickey sells his 25 percent interest in the club for a reported $1.05 million. » November 6, 1950: Branch Rickey signs a 5-year contract as executive vice president/GM with the Pirates. » November 20, 1950: Pirate GM Roy Hamey resigns to make way for Branch Rickey. » November 28, 1950: Having ousted Branch Rickey, Walter O'Malley now fires Burt Shotton as manager. Oakland (PCL) manager Chuck Dressen is his replacement. » October 23, 1951: Branch Rickey contends that the farm system saved baseball during the Depression. He asks Congress for legislation that will protect it from monopoly suits. » October 25, 1955: Baseball great Branch Rickey steps down as GM of the Pirates and moves into an advisory role with the Pirates. Joe L. Brown, son of the actor, replaces him. » April 12, 1958: On a recommendation from President Dwight D. Eisenhower, a friend of Branch Rickey's, the Pirates sign Preston Bruce, the son of the doorkeeper at the White House, and send him to Lincoln (Western League). » April 18, 1959: Branch Rickey becomes president of the Continental League. He appoints a committee to study problems associated with acquiring players. » August 18, 1959: Branch Rickey resigns as chairman of the Pirates to become president of the Continental League. » October 21, 1959: President Branch Rickey says that a Continental League franchise will be awarded to Buffalo. Montreal, Atlanta, and Dallas/Ft. Worth are still in the running for the remaining 2 slots. » December 8, 1959: American League President Joe Cronin reports that expansion plans are indefinite. Branch Rickey scores him for his indecisiveness. » February 20, 1960: Branch Rickey meets with officials of the proposed Western Carolinas League about pooling talent for Continental League clubs. » August 2, 1960: In an agreement with the major leagues, the Continental League abandons plans to join the American League and National League. Walter O'Malley, chairman of the NL Expansion Committee, says, "We immediately will recommend expansion and that we would like to do it in 1961." Braves owner Lou Perini proposes a compromise that four of the CL territories be admitted to the current majors in orderly expansion. Branch Rickey's group quickly accepts. The Continental League ends without playing a game. » October 29, 1962: Branch Rickey rejoins the Cardinals as a senior consultant for player development. » October 19, 1964: Branch Rickey is fired from his $65,000 per year consulting job with the Cardinals. » December 9, 1965: While giving a speech in Columbus, MO, Branch Rickey collapses and dies a few days short of his 84th birthday. Player, manager, an extraordinary judge of baseball talent, and a shrewd trader, he became perhaps the game's most influential executive. » January 29, 1967: Branch Rickey and Lloyd Waner are elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame by a unanimous vote of the Special Veterans Committee.