Branch Rickey

Wesley Branch Rickey (December 20, 1881 – December 9, 1965) was an innovative Major League Baseball executive best known for two things: breaking baseball’s color barrier by signing the African-American player Jackie Robinson, and later drafting the first Hispanic superstar, Roberto Clemente; and creating the framework to the modern minor league farm system. His many achievements, and somewhat theatrical religiosity,[citation needed] earned him the nickname “The Mahatma.Rickey was born in Portsmouth, Ohio, USA, the son of Jacob Frank Rickey and Emily Brown Rickey. He was a catcher on the baseball team at Ohio Wesleyan and, in 1903, signed a professional contract with Terre Haute, Indiana of the Class B Central League, making his professional debut on June 20. However, Rickey was not ready for the rigors of the tough Central League and was assigned to Le Mars, Iowa of the Class D Iowa-South Dakota League. Later, he spent two seasons in the major leagues, debuting as a St. Louis Brown in 1905. He hit fairly well, hitting two home runs in the same game on August 6, but fielded poorly, a fatal flaw for a catcher. Sold to the New York Highlanders in 1907, Rickey could neither hit nor field while with the club, and his batting average dropped below .200. One opposing team stole 13 bases while Rickey was behind the plate, setting a record which still stands a century later. Rickey also injured his throwing arm and retired as a player after just one year. (During this period, Rickey also spent two seasons–1904 and 1905–coaching baseball and football and teaching at Allegheny College in Pennsylvania.)

For his undergraduate degree, he attended Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware, Ohio. He received his law degree from the University of Michigan, where he worked as the baseball coach while going to school.

He returned to the big leagues in 1913, as a front office executive with the Browns. He was responsible for signing young George Sisler. Rickey became the team’s manager for the final 12 games of the season, and managed the team for 2 more full seasons. But the Browns finished under .500 both years and no one was surprised when Rickey was fired in 1916 when new ownership took over the club.

Rickey served as an officer in the US Army in France during the war. He commanded a chemical training unit that included Ty Cobb and Christy Matheson. He then returned to St. Louis in 1919, this time with the Cardinals, to become team president and manager. In 1920, Rickey gave up the team presidency to the Cards’ new majority owner, Sam Breadon. He then led the Cardinals on the field for another five seasons, before his firing early in the 1925 season.

His 6+ years as a manager were relatively mediocre, although the team posted winning records from 1921-23 and Rickey wisely invested in several minor league baseball clubs, using them to develop future talent for the Cardinals major league roster. He was 43 years old, had been a player, manager and executive in the Major Leagues and had shown no indication whatsoever that he would ever deserve to belong in the Baseball Hall of Fame. But even though he was not the first general manager in Major League Baseball history — his title was business manager — Rickey (as inventor of the farm system) would come to embody the position of the baseball operations executive who mastered scouting, player acquisition and development and business affairs — the definition of the modern GM.

Rogers Hornsby replaced Rickey to become a player-manager, and in 1926, his first full year as manager, he led the Cardinals to their first World Series championship.