branch-rickey - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Silent No Longer: The Outspoken Jackie RobinsonThe eyes of Abraham Lincoln gazed down from a portrait on the paneled walls inside the executive offices of the Brooklyn Dodgers Baseball Club as Branch Rickey fire-hosed a torrent of racial slurs at Jackie Robinson. The president and general manager of the Dodgers had little doubt that the young ba...

Jackie Robinson died unhappy with baseballThere was no Jackie Robinson Day in 1972. On the 25th anniversary of him breaking the MLB color barrier on April 15, 1947 the league hadn’t retired his number. In fact until June 1972, the Dodgers had never retired a number. They would do so for him, Sandy Koufax, and Roy Campanella. The league didn...
Check Out Branch Rickey's Early Scouting Reports For Hall Of Famers
Branch Rickey, who is best known for signing Jackie Robinson to the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1945, spent decades of his post-playing career evaluating baseball talent. He instituted the first minor league farm system (an innovation born of out of a desire to lock up top talent for cheap) and encouraged t...
Rickey & Robinson
Roger Kahn's latest book, Rickey & Robinson, has just been published. For more, check out this post by the book's editor, Mark Weinstein. ...
How Branch Rickey Invented Modern Baseball
Excerpted from Dollar Sign on the Muscle, named by Sports Illustrated one of the top 100 sports books of all time; postscript by Sam Miller. You can read more about the new Baseball Prospectus edition of the book here, or buy it in paperback or as an e-book....
Grand Master
Spring brings with it a bum's rush of new sports books. This year, one of the most prized titles comes from the distinguished Library of America—American Pastimes: The Very Best of Red Smith (edited by Dan Okrent). Smith is our most venerated sports columnist and we'll have much more on him and this...
Here's Vin Scully's Story About His Job Interview With Branch Rickey
Vin Scully's a priceless living baseball artifact for myriad reasons. Not only does he call games in an accessible and enjoyable way—especially for those of us on the East Coast mellowing out after a long day—but he's a constant source of fantastic stories about his early days in the Dodgers organ...
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Did Branch Rickey Sell Out Jackie Robinson?
Today Major League Baseball will do what it does best and celebrate its history. Today is Jackie Robinson Day and he will be rightfully honored in ballparks across the country. It is perhaps the quintessential baseball celebration: fond, sepia-toned remembrances that obscure reality. Some memories,...