View source for Branch Rickey

{{Short description|American baseball player, manager, and executive (1881–1965)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2023}}
{{Infobox baseball biography
|name=Branch Rickey
|image= Branch Rickey Cardinals.jpg
|caption=Rickey in the 1930s with the Cardinals
|position=[[Catcher]] / [[Manager (baseball)|Manager]] / [[Senior management|Executive]]
|birth_date={{Birth date|1881|12|20}}
|birth_place=[[Portsmouth, Ohio]], U.S.
|death_date={{Death date and age|1965|12|9|1881|12|20}}
|death_place=[[Columbia, Missouri]], U.S.
|bats=Left
|throws=Right
|debutleague=MLB
|debutdate=June 16 
|debutyear=1905
|debutteam=St. Louis Browns
|finalleague=MLB
|finaldate=August 25
|finalyear=1914
|finalteam=St. Louis Browns
|statleague=MLB
|stat1label=[[Batting average (baseball)|Batting average]]
|stat1value=.239
|stat2label=[[Home run]]s
|stat2value=3
|stat3label=[[Runs batted in]]
|stat3value=39
|stat4label=Managerial record
|stat4value=597–664
|stat5label=Winning %
|stat5value={{Winning percentage|597|664}}
|teams=
'''As player'''
* [[St. Louis Browns]] ({{mlby|1905}}–{{mlby|1906}})
* [[New York Highlanders]] ({{mlby|1907}})
* St. Louis Browns ({{mlby|1914}})
'''As manager'''
* [[St. Louis Browns]] ({{mlby|1913}}–{{mlby|1915}})
* [[St. Louis Cardinals]] ({{mlby|1919}}–{{mlby|1925}})
'''As general manager'''
* [[St. Louis Browns]] ({{mlby|1913}}–{{mlby|1916}})
* [[St. Louis Cardinals]] ({{mlby|1917}}–{{mlby|1918}}, {{mlby|1919}}–{{mlby|1942}})
* [[Brooklyn Dodgers]] ({{mlby|1943}}–{{mlby|1950}})
* [[Pittsburgh Pirates]] ({{mlby|1950}}–{{mlby|1955}})
|highlights=
* 4× [[World Series]] champion ({{wsy|1926}}, {{wsy|1931}}, {{wsy|1934}}, {{wsy|1942}})
*Played major part in development of the [[Farm team|farm system]]
*Signed [[Jackie Robinson]] for the Dodgers and helped integrate African-American players into [[Major League Baseball]] in 1947
*[[St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame Museum|St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame]]
|hoflink=National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
|hoftype=National
|hofdate=[[1967 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting|1967]]
|hofmethod=Veterans Committee
|module=
{{Infobox gridiron football biography|embed=yes
|name                 = Branch Rickey
|nickname             =
|team                 = Battling Bishops
|image                =
|image_size           =
|alt                  =
|caption              =
|status               =
|import               =
|position1            =
|position2            =
|birth_date           =
|birth_place          =
|death_date           =
|death_place          =
|number               =
|College              = [[Ohio Wesleyan University]]<br />[[University of Michigan]]
|CIS                  =
|amateur_title        =
|amateur_team         =
|high_school          =
|Height_ft            =
|Height_in            =
|Weight_lbs           =
|hand                 =
|pass_style           =
|other_title          =
|coaching_years1       = 1904–1905
|coaching_team1        =[[Allegheny College]]
|coaching_years2       = 1907–1908
|coaching_team2        =[[Wesleyan Battling Bishops football|Ohio Wesleyan University]]
|coaching_years3         = 1910–1913
|coaching_team3      =[[University of Michigan]]
|playing_years1        = 1902–1903
|playing_team1        = [[Shelby Blues]]
|AFLAllStar           =
|CFLAllStar           =
|ProBowls             =
<!--Military service-->
|module = {{Infobox military person|embed=yes
|allegiance           = {{flag|United States|1912}} 
|branch               = [[File:United States Department of the Army Seal.svg|20px|United States Army seal]] [[United States Army|U.S. Army]]
|serviceyears         = 1917–1918
|rank                 = [[File:US-O4 insignia.svg|20px]] [[Major (United States)|Major]]
|unit                 = '''[[Chemical Warfare Service]]'''<br />[[1st Gas Regiment]]
|battles              = '''World War I'''<br />[[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]]
|awards               =
}}}}}}

'''Wesley Branch Rickey''' (December 20, 1881 – December 9, 1965) was an American [[baseball]] player, manager, sports executive, and team owner. Rickey was instrumental in breaking the [[baseball color line]] by signing [[African American|black]] player [[Jackie Robinson]]. He also created the framework for the modern [[Minor league baseball|minor league]] [[Farm team|farm system]], encouraged the major leagues to add new teams through his involvement in the proposed [[Continental League]], introduced the [[batting helmet]], and created the standard 20-80 scouting scale.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Kepner |first1=Tyler |title=Give Baseball Scouts a (Perfect) 80 for Tradition |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/12/sports/baseball/give-baseball-scouts-a-perfect-80-for-tradition.html |access-date=20 October 2025}}</ref> He was posthumously elected to the [[Baseball Hall of Fame]] in 1967.<ref>{{cite web |author=<!-- not stated --> |date= |title=Branch Rickey, Baseball Innovator |url=https://invention.si.edu/invention-stories/branch-rickey-baseball-innovator |website=invention.si.edu |location=Washington, D.C. |publisher=[[The Smithsonian Institution]]: Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation |access-date=August 30, 2025}}</ref><ref name=sabr/>

Rickey played in [[Major League Baseball]] (MLB) for the [[St. Louis Browns]] and [[New York Highlanders]] from 1905 through 1907. After struggling as a player, Rickey returned to college, graduating from the [[University of Michigan]]. Back in the major leagues in 1913, he embarked on a successful career variously as a manager, executive, and owner, starting with the [[History of the St. Louis Browns|St. Louis Browns]], then the  [[List of St. Louis Cardinals owners and executives|St. Louis Cardinals]], [[History of the Brooklyn Dodgers|Brooklyn Dodgers]] and [[List of Pittsburgh Pirates owners and executives|Pittsburgh Pirates]]. The Cardinals elected him to their team [[St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame Museum|Hall of Fame]] in 2014.

Rickey also had a career in [[American football|football]], as a player for the professional [[Shelby Blues]] and as a coach at [[Ohio Wesleyan University]] and [[Allegheny College]]. He received the nickname "[[Mahatma]]" after sportswriter [[Tom Meany]] read an article describing [[Mahatma Gandhi]] as a combination of "your father and [[Tammany Hall]]."<ref name="SABR-BranchRickey">{{cite web |last1=McCue |first1=Andy |title=Branch Rickey |url=https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/branch-rickey/ |website=Society for American Baseball Research |access-date=5 January 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241215233816/https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/branch-rickey/ |archive-date=15 December 2024 |language=en-US |url-status=live}}</ref>

==Early life==
Rickey was born in [[Portsmouth, Ohio]], the son of Jacob Frank Rickey and Emily (née Brown). Rickey was the uncle of [[Elizabeth Rickey|Beth Rickey]], a [[Louisiana]] [[political activist]].<ref name=sabr/> He graduated from Valley High School in [[Lucasville, Ohio]], in 1899.

==College==
Rickey was a catcher on the baseball team at [[Ohio Wesleyan University]], where he obtained his [[Bachelor of Arts|B.A.]] Rickey was a member of the [[Delta Tau Delta]] fraternity.<ref>{{cite web|last=Redrup|first=Jessie Dunathan|title=Branch Rickey with Delta Tau Delta fraternity brothers|url=http://drc.owu.edu/handle/2374.OWES/540|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130615233933/http://drc.owu.edu/handle/2374.OWES/540|archive-date=June 15, 2013|work=Branch Rickey Collection|publisher=Ohio Wesleyan University|access-date=April 13, 2013}}</ref>

Rickey attended the [[University of Michigan]], where he received his [[LL.B.]]<ref name="Law Quadrangle Notes">{{cite web |url=http://www.law.umich.edu/historyandtraditions/students/Documents/fall2007.pdf |title=Law Quadrangle Notes |access-date=November 25, 2017}}</ref>

While at Michigan, Rickey applied for the job as Michigan's baseball coach. Rickey asked every alumnus he had ever met to write letters to [[Philip Bartelme]], the school's athletic director, on his behalf. Bartelme recalled, "Day after day those letters came in."<ref name="auto">[[#Polner|Polner]], p. 57.</ref> Bartelme was reportedly impressed with Rickey's passion for baseball and his idealism about the proper role of athletics on a college campus.<ref>[[#Lowenfish|Lowenfish]], p. 49.</ref> Bartelme convinced the dean of the law school that Rickey could handle his law studies while serving as the school's baseball coach.<ref>[[#Lowenfish|Lowenfish]], p. 50.</ref> Bartelme reportedly called Rickey into his office to tell him he had the job if only "to put a stop to those damn letters that come in every day."<ref name="auto"/> The hiring also marked the beginning of a lifelong friendship and business relationship between Rickey and Bartelme. Bartelme and Rickey worked together for most of the next 35 years."

During his four years as head baseball coach from 1910 to 1913, Rickey's record was 68–32–4.<ref>{{cite news|title=Bartelme Is Scout|publisher=Fresno Bee Republican|date=June 20, 1944}}</ref> In his final season, the Michigan squad — led by brilliant sophomore [[first baseman]] and left-handed [[pitcher]], future [[Baseball Hall of Fame|Hall of Famer]]  [[George Sisler]], who batted .445 — compiled a 21–4–1 won-lost record, a [[winning percentage]] of .827.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/George-Sisler/ |title=George Sisler (SABR BioProject) |publisher=[[Society for American Baseball Research]]}}</ref>

==Playing career==
Before his front office days, Rickey played both football and baseball professionally.

===Professional football career===
In 1902, Rickey played professional football for the [[Shelby Blues]] of the "[[Ohio League]]", the direct predecessor to the modern [[National Football League]] (NFL.) Rickey often played for pay with Shelby while he was attending Ohio Wesleyan. During his time with Shelby, Rickey became friends with his teammate [[Charles Follis]], who was the first black professional football player. He also played against him on October 17, 1903, when Follis ran for a 70-yard [[touchdown]] against the Ohio Wesleyan football team. After that game Rickey praised Follis, calling him "a wonder."<ref>{{cite journal | title=Charles Follis | journal=Coffin Corner | publisher=Professional Football Researchers Association | volume=2 | issue=1 | year=1980 | pages=1&ndash;5 | url=http://www.profootballresearchers.org/Coffin_Corner/02-01-021.pdf | author=Roberts, Milt | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101127042230/http://profootballresearchers.org/Coffin_Corner/02-01-021.pdf | archive-date=November 27, 2010 }}</ref> It is also possible that Follis' poise and class under the pressures of such racial tension, as well as his exceptional play in spite of it, inspired Rickey to sign Jackie Robinson decades later.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Nash |first=Kimberly |date=June 3, 2018 |title=Breaking Pro Football's Color Line: The Story of Charles W. Follis |url=http://bleacherreport.com/articles/228584-breaking-pro-footballs-color-line-the-story-of-charles-w-follis |access-date=2025-04-09 |website=Bleacher Report}}</ref> Rickey, however, stated his inspiration for bringing Jackie Robinson into baseball was the ill-treatment he saw received by his black catcher Charles Thomas on the Ohio Wesleyan baseball team coached by Rickey in 1903 and 1904 and the gentlemanly way Thomas handled it. When Rickey signed Robinson, Charles Thomas' story was made known in the papers.<ref>{{cite web|author=blackcollegenines |url=https://blackcollegenines.wordpress.com/2008/12/27/charles-thomas-ohio-wesleyan-university/ |title=Charles Thomas – Ohio Wesleyan University |publisher=Blackcollegenines.wordpress.com |date=May 27, 1905 |access-date=November 11, 2019}}</ref>

===Professional baseball career===
====Minor leagues====

In 1903, Rickey signed a contract with the [[Terre Haute Hottentots]] of the [[Class B (baseball)|Class B]] [[Central League (baseball)|Central League]], making his professional debut on June 20. He was assigned to the [[Le Mars Blackbirds]] of the Class D [[Iowa–South Dakota League]]. During this period, he also spent two seasons–1904 and 1905—coaching baseball, basketball and football at [[Allegheny College]] in Pennsylvania, where he also served as athletic director and as an instructor of Shakespeare, English, and freshman history.{{citation needed|date=August 2025}}

====Major leagues====
=====St. Louis Browns (1905–1906)=====
[[File:Branch Rickey 1906.png|thumb|Rickey batting for the [[St. Louis Browns]] in 1906]]

A left-handed-batting [[catcher]], Rickey debuted in the major leagues with the [[St. Louis Browns]] in 1905.<ref name=sabr/>

=====New York Highlanders (1907)=====
Sold to the [[New York Highlanders]] in 1907, Rickey could neither hit nor field while with the club, and his [[batting average (baseball)|batting average]] dropped below .200. One opposing team stole 13 bases in one game while Rickey was behind the plate, which was an American League record until 1911. Rickey also injured his throwing arm and retired as a player following that season.

==Managerial and executive career==

===St. Louis Browns (1913–1916)===
Rickey was in his third year as the Wolverines' baseball coach when St. Louis Browns owner [[Robert Hedges (baseball)|Robert Hedges]] inquired if Rickey was interested in running the minor-league [[Kansas City Blues (American Association)|Kansas City Blues]], which Hedges was thinking of purchasing. Citing his commitment to Michigan, Rickey turned him down, but agreed to do some part-time scouting for the Browns in the West during the summer of 1912. That September, Hedges offered Rickey a job as his top assistant and business manager of the MLB Browns themselves, at a substantial salary increase, effective after Michigan's 1913 baseball season. Rickey signed the deal on June 1, 1913. After three months in the Browns' front office, on September 17, 1913, the 31 year-old Rickey was also appointed field manager, replacing incumbent [[George Stovall]]. Veteran players [[Jimmy Austin]] and, later, [[Burt Shotton]], became Rickey's "Sunday managers", running the Browns on the Sabbath in the devout Rickey's absence.<ref>[[#Lowenfish|Lowenfish]], pp. 56-57, 59–60, 64-65.</ref>

The Browns, in the midst of one of several low points during their 52-year history, were 52–90 and in last place at the time. Rickey steered them to a 5–6–1 record over the last 12 games of the {{mlby|1913}} season. Then, in {{mlby|1914}}, they improved by 14 games, jumping from eighth to fifth place in the [[American League]]. However, the {{mlby|1915}} [[1915 St. Louis Browns season|Browns]] took a giant step backwards; despite the June signing of the player who would become one of the greatest in franchise history—future Hall of Famer [[George Sisler]]—they went only 63–91, 8½ games worse than in 1914 edition.<ref>{{cite web |website=[[Retrosheet]] |url= https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/B/FR_BAL.htm |title=St. Louis Browns (Baltimore Orioles since 1954) franchise history}}</ref>

Still, Rickey maintained Hedges' confidence. But during the 1915–1916 offseason, as part of Major League Baseball's the settlement of the [[Federal League]] "war", Hedges sold the Browns to the former operator of the Federal League's [[St. Louis Terriers]], [[Phil Ball (baseball)|Philip DeCatesby Ball]]. Ball brought along his own manager, [[Fielder Jones]], and restricted an unhappy Rickey to front-office duties. Compounding matters, the pair's personalities clashed, and as the 1916 season concluded, Rickey began looking for a new job.<ref>[[#Lowenfish|Lowenfish]], pp. 81-85.</ref>

===St. Louis Cardinals (1917–1942)===
{{Further|History of the St. Louis Cardinals (1875–1919)|History of the St. Louis Cardinals (1920–52)}}

====Early years and World War I service (1917–1918)====
At the same time Rickey was struggling with ownership change and on-field failings  with the American League St. Louis Browns, the [[National League (baseball)|National League's]] St. Louis Cardinals were also enduring a period of turmoil with both. In [[1916 St. Louis Cardinals season|1916]], they had finished eighth and last in the NL and attracted a league-worst 224,308 fans to [[Robison Field]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ballparksofbaseball.com/1910-1919-mlb-attendance/|title=1910-19 Ballpark Attendance Figures, Ballparks of Baseball}}</ref> and their owner, [[Helene Hathaway Britton]], put them up for sale. A local consortium of businessmen, including automobile dealer [[Sam Breadon]],<ref name="singingsam">{{cite web |url=https://baseballhall.org/discover-more/stories/pre-integration/breadon-sam |title=Sam Breadon—Cardinal Rule |last=Muder |first=Craig |date=2016 |website=baseballhall.org|publisher=[[National Baseball Hall of Fame]] |access-date=June 12, 2023 |quote=}}</ref> quickly formed to buy the financially strapped team and keep it from moving elsewhere. Searching for a chief executive, they reached out to seven St. Louis sportswriters and asked for recommendations; all seven separately suggested Rickey.<ref>[[#Lowenfish|Lowenfish]], p. 85.</ref>

Before Rickey could join the Cardinals he had to sort out his existing obligations to Ball and the Browns. American League president and founder [[Ban Johnson]], determined to keep Rickey in his league, pressured Ball to seek a temporary injunction to enforce the terms of Rickey's contract.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/phil-ball/ |title=Phil Ball (SABR BioProject) |publisher=[[Society for American Baseball Research]]}}</ref> The dispute was resolved in April 1917, and Rickey became the Cardinals' [[president (corporate title)|club president]], business manager, and a minority owner. Apart from his year as president of the Continental League in 1959–1960, Rickey would spend the remainder of his baseball career in the National League.

Each of Rickey's first two seasons with the Cardinals would be overshadowed by the [[American entry into World War I|United States' entry into World War I]], on April 6, 1917.

Despite the team's last-place standing in 1916, Rickey inherited two Hall-of-Fame quality assets: 21-year-old infielder [[Rogers Hornsby]] and the Cardinals' manager, [[Miller Huggins]]. Each contributed to a strong bounce-back season in [[1917 St. Louis Cardinals season|1917]]: Hornsby batted .327 in 145 games and led the team in [[hit (baseball)|hits]], and Huggins guided the squad to 82 wins and a third-place finish. During the 1920s, Hornsby would become the cornerstone of a National League pennant contender and 1926 [[Major League Baseball World Series|World Series]] champion. But Huggins, who had been a member of a rival ownership group that lost its bid for the Cardinals to Breadon's syndicate, left to manage the [[New York Yankees]] at season's end; there he would lead an eventual American League and MLB powerhouse to six pennants and three World Championships before dying at just 51 during the 1929 season.<ref>[[#Lowenfish|Lowenfish]], p. 92.</ref>

The war-disrupted [[1918 in baseball|1918 campaign]] saw the [[1918 St. Louis Cardinals season|Cardinals]], managed by veteran minor-league pilot [[Jack Hendricks]], perform poorly. They plummeted to last place in the National League, winning only 51 of 131 games during the shortened regular season, which ended September 2. Rickey, however, had by that point already enlisted as an officer in the [[United States Army]]. His absence from the team began August 31, 1918.<ref>[[#Lowenfish|Lowenfish]], p. 103.</ref>

He embarked by steamship for [[France]] and the [[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]] in mid-September. Recovering from a bout of [[pneumonia]] contracted aboard ship, Rickey commanded a training unit of the [[Chemical Warfare Service]] that included [[Ty Cobb]] and [[Christy Mathewson]].<ref>[[Baseball (TV series)]]</ref> His unit saw action as part of the [[First Gas Regiment]].<ref>[[#Polner|Polner]], p. 76.</ref> Six weeks after arriving, the November 11, 1918, armistice ended hostilities, Rickey and returned to the United States on December 23.  He succeeded Hendricks as the Cardinals' field manager for [[1919 St. Louis Cardinals season|1919]].<ref>[[#Lowenfish|Lowenfish]], p. 106.</ref>

====Field manager (1919–1925)====
Rickey's record as manager of the Cardinals from 1919 through the first 38 games of 1925 was a relatively mediocre (458–485–4, .486). The team improved from 53 victories in 1919 to 75 in [[1920 St. Louis Cardinals season|1920]], peaked at 87-66 in [[1921 St. Louis Cardinals season|1921]], saw two more winning seasons in [[1922 St. Louis Cardinals season|1922]] and [[1923 St. Louis Cardinals season|1923]], then fell off to losing in [[1924 St. Louis Cardinals season|1924]], and losing worse in [[1925 St. Louis Cardinals season|1925]].

Already in 1920 the ownership of the team had stabilized when Sam Breadon purchased controlling interest<ref name="singingsam"/> and took over from Rickey as club president.

On the field, the club was led by [[second baseman]] Hornsby, who batted over .400 three times (and .397 once). Others—such as [[Jack Fournier]], [[Jesse Haines]], [[Austin McHenry]] and [[Jack Smith (outfielder)|Jack Smith]]—also contributed to the team's surge. But McHenry's tragic death from a [[brain tumor]] in 1922 was a difficult blow for the team to absorb. They fell from 87 to 85 to 79 wins over the 1921–1923 period; then in 1924 dropped below .500 and finished 76–78.

Off the field, Rickey and Breadon pursued a [[farm system]] concept for the sport. By 1923, the Cardinals had ownership stakes or affiliations with five minor-league teams, including top-level [[Syracuse Stars (minor league baseball)|Syracuse]], Class A [[Houston Buffaloes|Houston]], and Class C [[Fort Smith Twins|Fort Smith]]; though there were minor league and semipro teams and leagues all over the United States, the [[Detroit Tigers]] were the only other major-league club with as much as a single "farm team."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Johnson|first1=Lloyd |last2=Wolff |first2=Miles |date=2007 |title=The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball |location=[[Durham, North Carolina]] |publisher=[[Baseball America]] |pages= 288–291 |edition=3rd |isbn=978-1-932391-17-6}}</ref>

[[File:Albert Pujols running the bases.jpg|thumb|upright|Future Hall of Famer [[Albert Pujols]] showing Rickey's famous Redbirds logo in 2008]]

On the big league squad, future Hall of Famer [[Jim Bottomley]] took over at first base in just his second season, batting .371 with 194 hits. Twenty-year-old Ohio Wesleyan graduate [[Howard Freigau]] started 81 games at [[shortstop]], and outfielders [[Ray Blades]] and [[Heinie Mueller (outfielder)|Heinie Mueller]] became key contributors. The rosters of Rickey's farm teams in 1923 included another future Hall of Famer, [[Chick Hafey]], as well as future 1920s Cardinal standouts [[Les Bell]], [[Taylor Douthit]], [[Fred Frankhouse]] and [[Wattie Holm]].<ref>{{cite web |website=Baseball-Reference.com |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/affiliate.cgi?year=1923 |title=1923 Minor League Affiliates}}</ref>

Along with improving player development Rickey improved the Cardinals' appearance on the field. The team's distinctive logo of two brilliant red [[Northern cardinal|cardinal]]s perched on a [[baseball bat]] first appeared in the [[1922 St. Louis Cardinals season|1922]] season.  Rickey had noticed a similar arrangement on a sign at a [[Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)|Presbyterian]] [[Church (building)|church]] in [[Ferguson, Missouri]], he was speaking at.  It had been designed by Allie May Schmidt, whose father was a [[graphic designer]].  St. Louis jerseys bore the perched redbirds over the name "Cardinals", with the letter "C" of the word hooked over the bat,<ref name=hoftheme>{{cite web |url=http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/stl/hof/theme_of_the_week.jsp?partnerId=as_stl_20140216_18660314 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140221230401/http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/stl/hof/theme_of_the_week.jsp?partnerId=as_stl_20140216_18660314 |url-status=dead |archive-date=February 21, 2014 |title=Theme of the week |work=[[Major League Baseball|MLB.com]] |access-date=February 17, 2014}}</ref> and still do in 2025.

In 1923, Rickey also experimented with placing uniform numbers on jersey sleeves to help fans identify players. The practice was abandoned after only one season, and it would take another decade for big league teams to put larger numbers on the backs of uniform shirts.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://exhibits.baseballhalloffame.org/dressed_to_the_nines/detail_page.asp?fileName=nl_1923_stlouis.gif&Entryid=375 |publisher=[[National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum]] |title=Dressed to the Nines}}</ref>

====Business/general manager (1925–1942)====
When the Cardinals' [[1925 St. Louis Cardinals season|1925 season]] started 13-25, Breadon fired Rickey as manager of the last place club on May 30, already 13 games out of the lead. Rogers Hornsby took over as [[player–manager]].

The 43 year-old Rickey had already been a player, manager, executive, and minority owner in the Major Leagues; still, there was little indication true greatness in the sport still lay ahead.

In spite of the firing Breadon could not deny Rickey's acumen for player development, and asked him to stay to run the front office. An embittered Rickey wailed, "You can't do this to me, Sam. You are ruining me." "No." Breadon countered, "I am doing you the greatest favor one man has ever done to another."<ref name=hoftheme/>

His job title was ''business manager''; the  ''[[General manager (baseball)|general manager]]'' role in Major League Baseball had not yet been developed.  Regardless, Rickey's purview and skills spanned [[farm system]] development, roster construction, scouting, player acquisition and development, and business affairs - all among the varying responsibilities of 20th-century GMs. In the quarter century between 1926 and 1950, Rickey's Cardinals and Dodgers teams would win eight National League titles; the teams he left behind would win six more pennants within five years immediately after his departure from their front offices.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://pursuitofpennants.wordpress.com/2018/02/06/branch-rickeys-farm-system-1925/ |title=Branch Rickey's Farm (1925)|last=Armour |first=Mark |date=February 6, 2018 |website=In Pursuit of Pennants |publisher= |access-date=June 20, 2023 |quote=}}</ref>

Meanwhile, in [[1926 St. Louis Cardinals season|1926]], Hornsby's first full year as manager, the new skipper led the Cardinals to their first [[1926 World Series|World Series championship]].<ref>{{cite web |title=1926 St. Louis Cardinals Statistics |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/STL/1926.shtml |website=Baseball-Reference.com}}</ref>

=====Development of the farm system=====
[[File:Stan Musial 1953 (2).jpg|thumb|upright|Farm product [[Stan Musial]] went to become a 20-time big league [[Major League Baseball All-Star Game|All-Star]], 3-time [[National League (baseball)|NL]] [[Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award|MVP]], and iconic baseball [[Baseball hall of fame|Hall of Famer]].  Pictured in 1953.]]

Two more [[pennant (sports)|pennants]] followed in {{mlby|1928}} and {{mlby|1930}}, followed by World Series losses. By {{mlby|1931}}, the Cardinals were the class of the [[National League (baseball)|National League]]. They won 101 games in [[1931 St. Louis Cardinals season|1931]] and won the [[1931 World Series|World Series]] in seven games over the defending champion, the powerhouse Foxx-Simmons-Grove [[Philadelphia Athletics]]. The star of the [[1931 World Series]] was rookie [[Pepper Martin]], a 1928 graduate of Rickey's player development system. With eight owned or affiliated farm teams by 1931,<ref>Johnson & Wolff, p. 328</ref> the system was fed by the Cardinals' scouting corps, headed by Charley Barrett (1871–1939), who introduced tryout camps to keep the pipeline filled with young amateur talent from across the U.S.. Soon, other organization graduates joined the team, among them future Hall of Famers [[Dizzy Dean]] and [[Joe Medwick|Joe "Ducky" Medwick]], and Dean's brother [[Paul Dean (baseball)|Paul "Daffy" Dean]]. All three were integral parts of the [[1934 St. Louis Cardinals season|1934]] Cardinals' "[[Gashouse Gang]]", who won the franchise's third World Series title.<ref name=sabr/>

Despite the ravages of [[The Great Depression]], the Cardinal farm system continued to expand during the 1930s, with 21 teams by {{baseball year|1935}}, 28 in {{baseball year|1936}}, and 33 in {{baseball year|1937}}.<ref>Johnson & Wolff, pp. 343, 348, 355</ref> Major League [[Commissioner of Baseball|Baseball Commissioner]] [[Kenesaw Mountain Landis]] was concerned that Rickey's minor league system, which both concentrated talent and constantly promoted a team's best players to the next league up, was going to ruin baseball by destroying existing minor league teams; he twice released over 70 Cardinal minor leaguers. Despite Landis' efforts, Rickey's minor league system continued to thrive, and similar systems were adopted by every major league team within a few years. Arguably, the farm system ''saved'' the minor leagues, by keeping them a necessary part of baseball after the television age began fans all over could watch big league clubs from their homes and bar. Minor league attendance figures declined,<ref>{{cite web |last1=Smith Jr. |first1=Leverett T. |title=A Man of Many Faucets, All Running at Once |url=https://sabr.org/journal/article/a-man-of-many-faucets-all-running-at-once/ |publisher=[[Society for American Baseball Research]]}}</ref> but the bottom never fell out.

Rickey continued to develop the Cardinals into the early 1940s, with his final team in St. Louis having the best season in franchise history, winning 106 games and the [[1942 World Series]]. The [[1942 St. Louis Cardinals season|1942]]  Cardinals were led by a new crop of home grown players, including two future [[Baseball Hall of Fame|Hall of Famers]], [[Enos Slaughter]] and [[Stan Musial]]; and several others, including future NL [[MLB Most Valuable Player award|MVP]] [[Marty Marion]], were among the best at their position during their eras. Even their manager [[Billy Southworth]] was a product of their farm system.

===Brooklyn Dodgers (1943–1950)===
{{Further|History of the Brooklyn Dodgers}}
In spite of St. Louis' World Series championship success in 1942, bigger opportunities within baseball beckoned to Rickey.  When his good friend [[Los Angeles Dodgers#Team history|Brooklyn Dodgers]] [[General Manager (baseball)|general manager]] [[Larry MacPhail]] enlisted in the army to serve in [[World War II]], the Dodgers hired Rickey to replace him as president and general manager, ending a tenure of over two decades with the Cardinals. In 1945, the Dodger ownership reorganized, with Rickey acquiring 25% of Dodger stock to become an equal partner with three other owners.

====Further innovations====
Rickey continued to innovate in his time with Brooklyn. He was responsible for the first full-time [[spring training]] facility, in [[Vero Beach, Florida]], and encouraged the use of now-commonplace tools such as the [[batting cage]], [[pitching machine]]s, and [[batting helmets]]. He also pioneered the use of [[statistical analysis]] in baseball (what is now known as [[sabermetrics]]), when he hired statistician [[Allan Roth]] as a full-time analyst for the Dodgers in 1947. After viewing Roth's evidence, Rickey promoted the idea that [[on-base percentage]] was a more important hitting statistic than [[batting average (baseball)|batting average]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.baseballthinkfactory.org/btf/pages/essays/rickey/goodby_to_old_idea.htm|title=Goodby to Some Old Baseball Ideas|website=www.baseballthinkfactory.org}}</ref> While working under Rickey, Roth was also the first person to provide statistical evidence that [[Platoon system|platoon effects]] were real and quantifiable.

====Breaking the color barrier====
Rickey's most memorable act with the Dodgers involved signing [[Jackie Robinson]], thus breaking [[baseball color line|baseball's color barrier]], which had been an [[unwritten rules of baseball|unwritten rule]] since the 1880s. This policy had continued under a succession of baseball leaders, including Landis, who was openly opposed to integrating Major League Baseball for what he regarded as legitimate reasons. Landis died in 1944, but Rickey had already set the process in motion, having sought (and gained) approval from the Dodgers Board of Directors in 1943 to begin the search for "the right man."<ref name=sabr/>

In early 1945, Rickey was anticipating the integration of black players into Major League Baseball. Rickey, along with [[Gus Greenlee]] who was the owner of the original [[Pittsburgh Crawfords]], created the [[United States League]] (USL) as a method to scout black players specifically to break the color line. It is unclear if the league actually played the 1945 season or if it was only used as a pretense for integration.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia | title=Branch Rickey | url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Branch-Rickey | encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia Britannica | access-date=November 17, 2019}}</ref> Around this time, Rickey held tryouts of black players, under the cover story of forming a new team in the USL called the "Brooklyn Brown Dodgers." The Dodgers were, in fact, looking for the right man to break the color line.

On August 28, 1945, Rickey signed Robinson, who never played in the USL, to a minor league contract. Robinson had been playing in the [[Negro leagues]] for the [[Kansas City Monarchs]]. On October 23, 1945, it was announced that Robinson would join the [[Montreal Royals]], the Dodgers' [[International League]] affiliate, for the 1946 season. He would end up as the league's batting champion, and led the Royals to a dominant league championship.<ref name=sabr/>

There was no statute officially banning blacks from baseball, only a universally recognized unwritten rule which no club owner was prepared to break that was perpetuated by culturally entrenched racism and a desire by club owners to be perceived as representing the values and beliefs of everyday American white men. The service of black Americans in the Second World War, and the celebrated pre-war achievements of black athletes in American sports, such as [[Joe Louis]] in boxing and [[Jesse Owens]] in track, helped pave the way for the cultural shift necessary to break the barrier.<ref name=sabr/>

Rickey knew that Robinson would face racism and discrimination.<ref>Beyond the box score: Jackie Robinson, civil rights crusader, Negro History Bulletin, 1995 p. 15.</ref> Rickey made it clear in their momentous first meeting that he anticipated wide-scale resistance both inside and outside baseball to opening its doors to black players. As predicted by Rickey, right from the start Robinson faced obstacles among his teammates and other teams' players. No matter how harsh the white people were towards Robinson, he could not retaliate. Robinson had agreed with Rickey not to lose his temper and jeopardize the chances of all the blacks who would follow him if he could help break down the barriers.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/robinson.htm|title=Jackie Robinson Breaks Baseball's Color Barrier, 1945|website=www.eyewitnesstohistory.com}}</ref>

Red Barber recounted in [[Ken Burns]]'s documentary ''[[Baseball (TV series)|Baseball]]'' that Rickey's determination to desegregate Major League Baseball was born out of a combination of idealism and astute business sense. The idealism was at least partially rooted in an incident involving a team for which Rickey worked early on. While managing at Ohio Wesleyan University, a black player, Charles Thomas, was extremely upset at being refused accommodation, because of his race, at the hotel where the team stayed. Though an infuriated Rickey managed to get him into the hotel for the night, he never forgot the incident and later said, "I may not be able to do something about racism in every field, but I can sure do something about it in baseball." The business element was based on the fact that the [[Negro leagues]] had numerous star athletes, and logically, the first Major League team to hire them would get the first pick of the players at an attractive price. At the time, Mexican brewery czar [[Jorge Pasquel]] was raiding America for black talent (e.g. [[Satchel Paige]]), as well as disgruntled white players, for the [[Mexican League]] with the idea of creating an integrated league that could compete on a talent level with the U.S. major leagues. However idealistic, Rickey did not compensate Monarchs ownership for the rights to obtain Robinson,<ref name="Beisbol">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qoqyGjsXYnwC&q=larry+dobby+effa+manley+bill+veeck+contract&pg=PA37|title=Béisbol|editor=Ilan Stavans|series=The Ilan Stavans Library of Latino Civilization|year=2012|isbn=978-0-313-37513-2|publisher=Greenwood|location=Santa Barbara, California}}{{rp|p.37}}</ref> nor did he pay for rights to [[Don Newcombe]], who would also join the Dodgers from a Negro leagues club. Rickey also attempted to sign [[Monte Irvin]] but [[Newark Eagles]] business owner [[Effa Manley]] refused to allow Irvin to leave her club without compensation. When she threatened to sue him in court, Rickey stopped the pursuit of Irvin, who would later sign with the [[New York Giants (NL)|New York Giants]].<ref name="Cooperstown_Simons">{{cite book|title=The Cooperstown Symposium on Baseball and American Culture, 2000|editor=Alvin L. Hall|isbn = 978-0-7864-1120-7|publisher=McFarland & Company, Inc.|location=Jefferson, North Carolina|last=Simons|first=William M.|date=October 2, 2015|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OT2oXO8-5KwC&q=larry+dobby+effa+manley+bill+veeck+contract&pg=PA288 |page=277}}</ref>

Amid much fanfare, Jackie debuted, and turned out to be a success. Robinson was baseball's first [[MLB Rookie of the Year award|rookie of the year]], and while he was often jeered by opposing baseball players, managers, and fans, he became extremely popular with the American public. His success became the crowning achievement of Rickey's illustrious career. His Dodgers would make the World Series that year. Although they lost in seven games to the [[New York Yankees]], Rickey's vision and action had set the stage for the Dodgers to be contenders for decades to come. And it opened the door for other leaders like [[Larry Doby]] of the [[Cleveland Indians]], who integrated the [[American League]] in 1947, as well.<ref name=sabr/>

====Later career with Dodgers====
From 1945 through 1950, Rickey was one of four owners of the Dodgers, each with one quarter of the franchise. When one of the four ([[John L. Smith (pharmaceutical executive)|John L. Smith]]) died, [[Walter O'Malley]] took control of that quarter. Also in 1950, Branch Rickey's contract as Dodger president expired, and Walter O'Malley decided that were Rickey to retain the job, almost all of Rickey's power would be gone; for example, he would no longer take a percentage of every franchise sale. Rickey declined a new contract as president. Then, to be a majority owner, O'Malley offered to buy Rickey's portion. Seeing no reason to hold on to the club, Rickey decided to comply. In a final act of retaliation against O'Malley, Rickey instead offered the club percentage to a friend for $1 million. His chances at complete franchise control at risk, O'Malley was forced to offer more money, and Rickey finally sold his portion for $1.05 million (equivalent to approximately ${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|1050000|1950|r=-5}}}} in {{Inflation-year|US}}{{inflation-fn|US}}).<ref name=sabr/>

===Pittsburgh Pirates (1951–1955)===
Immediately upon leaving the Dodgers, Rickey was offered the position of [[executive vice president]] and general manager of the [[Pittsburgh Pirates]] by the team's new majority owner, [[John W. Galbreath]]. He joined them on November 1, 1950, one month after the [[1950 Pittsburgh Pirates season|1950 Bucs]], who lost 96 out of 153 games, finished in last place for only the third time in the 20th century. With an average player age of 28.6 years, they also were one of the oldest teams in the National League.<ref>[[Baseball Reference]]: [https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/NL/1950-misc.shtml 1950 National League miscellaneous records]</ref> Bringing several key aides with him from Brooklyn, Rickey began a tear-down/re-building process that would consume his entire five-year term as general manager. The Pirates finished eighth (and last) four times and seventh once, compiled a miserable 269–501 ([[winning percentage|.349]]) won–lost record, and in [[1952 Pittsburgh Pirates season|1952]] finished a dismal 42–112, lagging behind the champion Dodgers by 54<small>{{fraction|1|2}}</small> games. It was the second-worst season in franchise history, and the fourth-worst in modern (post-1900) baseball history. After presiding over one last-place season with the Pirates, Rickey proposed cutting the pay of power-hitting superstar [[Ralph Kiner]]. When Kiner objected, Rickey famously quipped, "Son, we could have finished last without you!"

[[File:Pirate player with general manager Branch Rickey (cropped).jpg|thumb|left|Rickey speaks with young shortstop [[Dick Groat]] in 1955, his final year as general manager of the Pirates]]

Perhaps his most notable innovation during his Pittsburgh tenure came during the {{mlby|1953}} season, when the Pirates became the first team to permanently adopt batting helmets on both offense and defense. These helmets resembled a primitive fiberglass "[[Coal miner|miner's cap]]". This was the mandate of Rickey, who also owned stock in the company producing the helmets. Under Rickey's orders, all Pirate players had to wear the helmets both at bat and in the field. The helmets became a permanent feature for all Pirate hitters, but within a few weeks the team began to abandon their use of helmets on defense, partly because of their awkwardly heavy feel. Once the Pirates discarded the helmets on defense, the trend disappeared from the game.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.oaklandfans.com/columns/markusen/markusen180.html |title=Oakland A's Fan Coalition – Athletics baseball enthusiasts dedicated to watching a winner |publisher=Oaklandfans.com |date=July 12, 1980 |access-date=December 5, 2010 |archive-date=July 14, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110714223256/http://www.oaklandfans.com/columns/markusen/markusen180.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Health problems forced Rickey to retire in 1955. The Pirates were still mired in the NL basement; they would not have another winning record until 1958. However, with an average age of 25.5, they were the youngest outfit in the Senior Circuit in 1955. Five years later, Rickey's contributions would help lead to a [[1960 World Series|World Series championship for Pittsburgh in 1960]]. Wrote author Andrew O'Toole in 2000, "The core of the 1960 championship team [notably [[Roberto Clemente]], [[Dick Groat]], [[Bill Mazeroski]], [[Elroy Face]] and [[Vern Law]], among others] was put together and nurtured by Rickey."<ref>[[#O'Toole|O'Toole]], p. 4.</ref>

Rickey fast-tracked youngsters like Law and [[Bob Friend]], signed by his predecessor, [[Roy Hamey]], to the majors. He recruited Groat off the [[Duke University]] campus, drafted Face and Clemente from Brooklyn's minor league system, and his scouts and minor league instructors found Mazeroski and developed him for MLB delivery in 1956. Pittsburgh's farm and scouting system would continue to be highly productive into the 1970s, especially in developing [[Latin American]] players signed by scout [[Howie Haak]], one of the people whom Rickey had brought to the Pirates from the Dodgers.

Rickey remained on the Pirate masthead as chairman of the board for almost four full seasons after [[Joe L. Brown]] succeeded him as general manager in October of {{mlby|1955}}. He also held a small amount of stock in the club. But that association ended in the middle of August 1959, when, nearing his 78th birthday, Rickey took on another challenge as the chief executive of a proposed third major league, the [[Continental League]].<ref name=sabr/>

===President of Continental League (1959–1960)===
{{further|Continental League}}
A significant shift in population from the Eastern and Midwestern United States to the West and South after [[World War II]] wreaked havoc with the established 16-team, two-league major league structure, opening up growing markets and triggering a two-decade-long series of franchise relocations beginning in {{mlby|1953}}. In {{mlby|1957}}, these were dramatized by the transfer of each of [[New York City]]'s National League teams, the Dodgers and Giants, to [[California]], abandoning their established fan bases. When [[mayor of New York City|mayor]] [[Robert F. Wagner Jr.]] and attorney [[William Shea]] were unsuccessful in their attempts to attract Senior Circuit teams from smaller markets (including the Pirates) to New York, Shea announced plans for a third major league in professional baseball, the Continental League, on July 27, 1959. In addition to New York, the Continental would be represented by clubs in [[Denver, Colorado|Denver]], [[Houston, Texas|Houston]], [[Minneapolis–Saint Paul]] and [[Toronto, Ontario|Toronto]], plus three additional markets to round out an eight-team league. It was scheduled to begin play in April 1961.<ref>{{cite book |last=Spink |first=J. G. Taylor |year=1960 |title=Official Baseball Guide and Record Book |publisher=Charles C. Spink and Son |location=St. Louis, Missouri }}</ref>

Three weeks after the formation of the new circuit was announced, on August 18, 1959, Rickey sold his stake in the Pirates, resigned as board chairman, and signed a 16-month contract to become the first president of the new league at a reported $50,000 annual salary (equivalent to approximately ${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|50000|1959|r=0}}}} in {{Inflation-year|US}}{{inflation-fn|US}}). He immediately led a delegation of Continental League owners to a summit meeting in a Manhattan hotel with [[Commissioner of Baseball]] [[Ford Frick]], the presidents of the National and American leagues, and a subcommittee of MLB club owners. The established leagues were wary of a new challenge to baseball's antitrust law exemption,<ref name="free4">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/23/sports/baseball/23league.html|title=Fifty Years Later, the Continentals Sit in the What-If Drawer|last=Shapiro|first=Michael|date=July 22, 2009|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=June 7, 2018}}</ref> when the chairman of the [[House Judiciary Committee]], [[Emanuel Celler]], a Brooklyn Democrat enraged by his borough's loss of the Dodgers, introduced legislation that would place baseball under antitrust law.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Edmonds|first=Ed|year=1994|title=Over 40 Years in the On-Deck Circle: Congress and the Baseball Anti-Trust Exemption|journal=NDL Scholarship|publisher=Notre Dame University Law School|location=South Bend, Indiana}}</ref> This concern led Frick and his entourage to publicly treat the Continental League with respect; at the meeting, Frick asked Rickey and the other league presidents ([[Warren Giles]] and [[Joe Cronin]]) to form a committee that would set up ground rules to govern the admission of the Continental to eventual equal status with the two major leagues.<ref name=sabr/>

As those rules were taking shape, Rickey presided over the admission of the Continental League's three remaining founding franchises: [[Atlanta, Georgia|Atlanta]], [[Buffalo, New York|Buffalo]] and [[Dallas–Fort Worth]]. He made public appearances—for example, as the "mystery guest" on the prime-time TV quiz show ''[[What's My Line?]]''—to advance his view that a third, eight-team league would be more beneficial to baseball than [[expansion team|expansion]] of the two existing circuits. But behind the scenes, National and American league owners were working on their own plans to expand their loops and scuttle Rickey's start-up league. In August 1960, they offered the Continental League's owners a deal: each established league would add two new franchises by 1962. In return, they demanded that the new circuit disband.<ref name="free4"/> Against Rickey's advice, his owners agreed to the compromise and the new league perished, still on the drawing board.

In 1961, Minneapolis–Saint Paul got a 60-year-old American League franchise, the transferred [[Minnesota Twins|Washington Senators]], with an [[Texas Rangers (baseball)|expansion team]] replacing them in the capital. In 1962, the [[New York Mets]] and [[Houston Colt .45s]] were admitted to the Senior Circuit as expansion teams. By 1993, all of the Continental League's cities except Buffalo were in Major League Baseball.<ref name=sabr/>

===Return to Cardinals (1962–1964)===
[[File:Dad and Branch near Cincinnati stadium.jpg|thumb|Rickey in [[Cincinnati]] in the early 1960s]]
After negotiations broke down in March 1961 that would have seen Rickey take over the Mets as their first president and general manager,<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.nysportsday.com/2015/01/03/what-if-branch-rickey-ran-the-mets-in-1962/ |title=McDonald, Joe (3 January 2015), "What If Branch Rickey Ran the Mets in 1962?" Newyorksportsday.com |access-date=January 28, 2019 |archive-date=January 29, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190129005858/https://www.nysportsday.com/2015/01/03/what-if-branch-rickey-ran-the-mets-in-1962/ }}</ref> he went into temporary retirement. The year also saw Rickey endure tragedy and hardship on a personal level. On April 10, 1961, his son, [[Branch Rickey Jr.|Branch Jr.]], farm system director of the Pirates, died from complications of diabetes at the age of 47.<ref>{{cite news | title=Branch Rickey Returns to Cardinals After 20 Years | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1908&dat=19621024&id=E0krAAAAIBAJ&pg=1114,2424527 | publisher=Nevada Daily Mail | location=Nevada, Missouri | page=6 | date=October 30, 1962 | access-date=August 21, 2014}}</ref> Then, on June 27, Rickey suffered a "serious" heart attack—his second cardiac event since 1958—while staying at his summer home on Canada's [[Manitoulin Island]] and was airlifted to a [[Sudbury, Ontario]], hospital for treatment.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1961/06/28/101468853.html?pageNumber=31 |title=Rickey Suffers a Heart Attack |author=[[United Press International]] |date=June 28, 1961 |website=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=September 14, 2023 |quote=}}</ref> Upon his recovery, Rickey and his wife, Jane, decided to move from suburban Pittsburgh back to St. Louis in 1962, where, on October 29, Rickey returned to the Cardinals exactly 20 years to the day he left to become general consultant on the development of Cardinal players and special advisor to owner [[August A. Busch Jr.]]

But Rickey's second stint with the Cardinals was marred by controversy. He recommended that Cardinal icon [[Stan Musial]] be compelled to retire, even after the eventual Hall of Famer's stellar {{mlby|1962}} season, in which Musial, 41, had finished third in the National League [[batting average (baseball)|batting]] race (hitting .330 in 135 games played), and broken [[Honus Wagner]]'s NL record for career hits. Rickey wrote to Busch: "He can't run, he can't field, and he can't throw. Twenty-five Musials would finish in last place."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.stltoday.com/sports/baseball/professional/musial-stan-s-final-farewell/article_f98c73a4-a0a7-586c-8d42-0606ee371760.html|title=Musial: Stan's Final Farewell|last=O'Neill|first=Dan|date=January 20, 2013|newspaper=[[St. Louis Post-Dispatch]]|access-date=June 22, 2018}}</ref> Musial would play one more campaign before retiring from the field in September 1963.

Rickey also undermined St. Louis general manager [[Bing Devine]], who had begun his baseball career under Rickey in the late 1930s as an office boy. He was a vocal critic of one of Devine's highest profile (and most successful) trades, when he acquired veteran [[shortstop]] Groat from Pittsburgh after the 1962 season. Rickey believed that Groat, 32 at the time, was too old.<ref>[[#Lowenfish|Lowenfish]], p. 585.</ref> Groat, however, still had two prime years left. He batted .319 ({{mlby|1963}}) and .292 ({{mlby|1964}}), and was runner-up in the National League's 1963 [[Most Valuable Player Award]] balloting. He was the NL's starting shortstop in both the [[1963 Major League Baseball All-Star Game|1963]] and [[1964 Major League Baseball All-Star Game|1964]] [[Major League Baseball All-Star Game|All-Star games]], and helped lead the [[1963 St. Louis Cardinals season|1963 Cardinals]] to a second-place finish. But the [[1964 St. Louis Cardinals season|1964 team]] fell behind in the standings and seemed stalled in fifth place in mid-August. When Busch fired Devine on August 17 and replaced him with Rickey protégé [[Bob Howsam]], the 82-year-old consultant and special advisor was cast as the cause of Devine's downfall. The controversial firing embarrassed Busch when the team Devine assembled caught fire in the season's final six weeks, won the National League pennant, and triumphed in the [[1964 World Series]]. After the season, Busch terminated Rickey's contract, ending a professional baseball career that had spanned 62 years.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://retrosimba.com/2014/08/15/why-gussie-busch-fired-bing-devine-in-championship-year/|title=Why Gussie Busch Fired Bing Devine in the Cardinals' Championship Year|date=August 15, 2014|publisher=Retrosimba|access-date=June 7, 2018}}</ref>

==Personal life==
{{expand section|date=August 2025}}
[[File:Branch Rickey 1912.jpg|thumb|Rickey in 1912]]

Rickey was a Freemason, first at Lucasville Lodge #465 in Ohio, then at Tuscan Lodge #360 in [[St. Louis]]. After arriving in [[Brooklyn]], Rickey joined Montauk Masonic Lodge #286 in Brooklyn.<ref>{{cite web|title=Well Known Freemasons|url=http://www.nymasons.org/about-freemasonry/famous-masons-ii.html|publisher=Grand Lodge of British Columbia|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130908075339/http://www.nymasons.org/about-freemasonry/famous-masons-ii.html|archive-date=September 8, 2013}}</ref>

Stricken with [[tuberculosis]], he sought treatment in [[Saranac Lake, New York]] in 1908 and 1909 at the [[Adirondack Cottage Sanitarium|Trudeau Sanatorium]]. Later, he moved into the [[Jacob Schiff]] cottage.

==Death==
A public speaker in his later years, on November 13, 1965, Rickey collapsed in the middle of a speech in [[Columbia, Missouri]], as he was being elected to the [[Missouri Sports Hall of Fame]]. He had told a story of physical courage and was about to relate an illustration from the [[Bible]]. "Now I'm going to tell you a story from the Bible about spiritual courage," he said. Rickey murmured he could not continue, collapsed and never spoke again. He faltered, fell back into his seat and slipped onto the floor. He never regained consciousness. His brain was damaged when his breathing stopped momentarily, though his heart picked up its rhythm again. Through the next 26 days, hospitalized in a coma, there was little change.<ref name=sabr/>

On December 9 at about 10 p.m., he died of heart failure at Boone County Memorial Hospital in [[Columbia, Missouri]], 11 days before his 84th birthday. Branch Rickey was interred at Rush Township Burial Park in [[Rushtown, Ohio]], near where his parents, his widow, Jane (who died in 1971), and three of his children (including Branch Jr.) also rest. Rickey's grave overlooks the Scioto Valley, about three miles from his boyhood home in Stockdale, Ohio.<ref name=sabr>{{cite web |url=https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/6d0ab8f3 |title= Branch Rickey (SABR BioProject) |publisher=[[Society for American Baseball Research]]}}</ref>

==Honors and legacy==
According to historian [[Harold Seymour]]:<ref>Harold Seymour, "Rickey, Branch Wesley" in John A. Garraty, ''Encyclopedia of American Biography'' (1974) pp 906-908.</ref>
:Branch Rickey stands forth as professional baseball's counterpart of that oldest stereotype of American folklore, the shrewd hard-working, God-fearing Yankee trader. He was also one of baseball's genuine innovators, an administrator who made a lasting imprint upon the industry....[His] seeming contradictions between profession and practice, together with this skill and oratorical obfuscation and circumlocution, caused many to regard Rickey as a hypocritical mountebank. Yet even his detractors acknowledged Rickey's industriousness, organizing genius, an unsurpassed ability to judge the potential of raw recruits.... Rickey built the Cardinals into a baseball empire that, at its peak, comprised 32 clubs, 600 or 700 players, and an investment of more than $2 million.

In addition to Rickey's election to the [[Baseball Hall of Fame]] as a contributor in 1967, in 1997 he was inducted into the [[St. Louis Walk of Fame]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.stlouiswalkoffame.org/inductees/?view=achievement|title=St. Louis Walk of Fame Inductees|publisher=St. Louis Walk of Fame|access-date=April 25, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121031162946/http://www.stlouiswalkoffame.org/inductees/?view=achievement|archive-date=October 31, 2012}}</ref> in 2009 he was elected to the [[College Baseball Hall of Fame]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.collegebaseballhall.org/hall_of_famers.jsp?year=2009#Rickey|title=College Baseball Hall of Fame: Hall of Famers: 2009 Inductees|website=www.collegebaseballhall.org}}</ref>

In January 2014, the Cardinals announced Rickey among 22 former players and personnel to be inducted into the [[St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame Museum]] for the inaugural class of [[2014 St. Louis Cardinals season|2014]].<ref>{{cite news |author=Cardinals Press Release |url=http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20140118&content_id=66822534&vkey=pr_stl&c_id=stl |title=Cardinals establish Hall of Fame & detail induction process |publisher=www.stlouis.cardinals.[[MLB.com|mlb.com]] |date=January 18, 2014 |access-date=January 29, 2014 |archive-date=January 26, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140126165854/http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20140118&content_id=66822534&vkey=pr_stl&c_id=stl }}</ref>

A ballpark in [[Portsmouth, Ohio|Portsmouth]], Ohio, once used by the [[Portsmouth Explorers]], a charter member of the [[Frontier League]] before the club folded in 1996, is named in Rickey's honor.<ref>[http://www.ssubears.com/f/Facilities/Branch_Rickey_Park.php "Branch Rickey Park"]. [[Shawnee State Bears]]. Retrieved April 18, 2015.</ref> The [[Branch Rickey Arena]] at [[Ohio Wesleyan University]] is also named in his honor.

A section of US Highway 23 in Ohio, running north from the Franklin County border to the city of Delaware, has been named the Branch Rickey Memorial Highway.<ref>[http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/5533.051v1 "Branch Rickey Memorial Highway"]. Retrieved February 4, 2017.</ref>

In 1992, [[Rotary International]] of [[Denver, Colorado]], created the [[Branch Rickey Award]], which is given annually to a Major League Baseball player in recognition of exceptional community service. Outside of [[Coors Field]] in Denver is a monument to Rickey by the sculptor [[George Lundeen]], dedicated in 2005, with this simple inscription:

{{blockquote|It is not the honor that you take with you but the heritage you leave behind.}}

Another quotation attributed to Rickey is:

{{blockquote|Luck is the residue of design.<ref>''The Yale Book of Quotations'', citing ''[[The Sporting News]]'', February 21, 1946.</ref>}}

Members of his family also became involved in baseball. Son Branch Jr. was an executive with the Dodgers and Pirates for over two decades prior to his 1961 death, and grandson [[Branch Rickey III]] served as a farm system director with the Pirates and [[Cincinnati Reds]] and president of the [[Triple-A (baseball)|Triple-A]] [[American Association (20th century)|American Association]] and [[Pacific Coast League]] during a 57-year baseball career.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Commissioner Branch Rickey III likes what PCL is doing while watching Colorado Springs Sky Sox lose|last=Paisley|first=Joe|date=August 5, 2015|work=TCA Regional News}}</ref> His brother Frank Wanzer Rickey (1888–1953) scouted for the Cardinals and Dodgers; his signees included Hall of Famers Slaughter and [[Johnny Mize]]. Frank Rickey's son-in-law, Charles A. Hurth (1906–1969), was a longtime minor league executive who served as president of the [[Double-A (baseball)|Double-A]] [[Southern Association]] and, from mid-April 1960 through mid-November 1961, as the first general manager of the Mets, including the period when Branch Rickey and the team were  discussing a top role for Rickey in the New York front office.

Moreover, Rickey's influence continued to loom large after his passing, especially in the National League. One year after his 1965 death, five of the league's ten general managers—Howsam (Cardinals), Devine (Mets), Brown (Pirates), [[Buzzie Bavasi]] (Dodgers) and [[Bill DeWitt]] (Reds), as well as NL president Giles—had at one time worked under Rickey during his long executive career.

[[File:Jackie robinson story.jpg|thumb|Lobby card for ''The Jackie Robinson Story'', 1950. [[Minor Watson]] ''(left)'' portrays Rickey and [[Jackie Robinson]] portrays himself]]

===Portrayals on stage, film and television===
Due to his connection with [[Jackie Robinson]], Rickey has been portrayed numerous times on screen and stage:

* In the 1950 movie ''[[The Jackie Robinson Story]]'', he is portrayed by [[Minor Watson]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/19169/the-jackie-robinson-story#overview |title=The Jackie Robinson Story (1950) |work=[[Turner Classic Movies]]}}</ref>
* In the 1996 HBO movie ''[[Soul of the Game]]'', Rickey is played by [[Edward Herrmann]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/412656/soul-of-the-game#overview |title=Soul of the Game (1996) |work=[[Turner Classic Movies]]}}</ref>
* In the 2013 film ''[[42 (film)|42]]'', Rickey is played by [[Harrison Ford]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/2018797/42#overview |title=42 (2013) |work=[[Turner Classic Movies]]}}</ref> Rickey's great-granddaughter, actress [[Kelley Jakle]], also appears in the film.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://themccarthyproject.com/2013/03/29/actress-kelley-jakle-42/ |title=Actress Kelley Jakle of "42" |publisher=The McCarthy Project|date=March 29, 2013|access-date=January 8, 2014}}</ref>
* Rickey is the title character in the 1989 [[Edward Schmidt]] play ''[[Mr. Rickey Calls a Meeting]]'', a fictionalized version of the meeting in which Rickey offered Jackie Robinson a major-league contract.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Braunagel |first=Don |date=May 12, 1992 |title=Review: 'Mr. Rickey Calls a Meeting' |url=https://variety.com/1992/legit/reviews/mr-rickey-calls-a-meeting-1200429727/ |magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |access-date=December 11, 2016}}</ref>

Additionally, he was also featured heavily in the 2016 [[PBS]] documentary, ''[[Jackie Robinson (film)|Jackie Robinson]]'', which was directed by [[Ken Burns]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Lloyd|first=Robert|title=Review: Ken Burns' 'Jackie Robinson' documentary is a lump-in-the-throat trip that goes beyond baseball|newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=April 11, 2016|url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/la-et-st-jackie-robinson-review-20160411-column.html|access-date=April 17, 2020}}</ref>

==Managerial record==
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%; text-align:center;"
|-
! rowspan="2"|Team !! rowspan="2"|Year !! colspan="5"|Regular season !! colspan="4"|Postseason
|-
!Games!!Won!!Lost!!Win %!!Finish!! Won !! Lost !! Win % !! Result
|-
|-
![[1913 St. Louis Browns season|SLB]]|| {{mlby|1913}}
||11||5||6||{{Winning percentage|5|6}}|| 8th in AL || – || – || – || –
|-
![[1914 St. Louis Browns season|SLB]]|| {{mlby|1914}}
||153||71||82||{{Winning percentage|71|82}}|| 5th in AL || – || – || – || –
|-
![[1915 St. Louis Browns season|SLB]]|| {{mlby|1915}}
||154||63||91||{{Winning percentage|63|91}}|| 6th in AL || – || – || – || –
|-
! colspan="2"|SLB total || 318 || 139 || 179 || {{Winning percentage|139|179}} || || 0 || 0 || – ||
|-
![[1919 St. Louis Cardinals season|STL]]|| {{mlby|1919}}
||137||54||83||{{Winning percentage|54|83}}|| 7th in NL || – || – || – || –
|-
![[1920 St. Louis Cardinals season|STL]]|| {{mlby|1920}}
||154||75||79||{{Winning percentage|75|79}}|| 5th in NL || – || – || – || –
|-
![[1921 St. Louis Cardinals season|STL]]|| {{mlby|1921}}
||153||87||66||{{Winning percentage|87|66}}|| 3rd in NL || – || – || – || –
|-
![[1922 St. Louis Cardinals season|STL]]|| {{mlby|1922}}
||154||85||69||{{Winning percentage|85|69}}|| 3rd in NL || – || – || – || –
|-
![[1923 St. Louis Cardinals season|STL]]|| {{mlby|1923}}
||153||79||74||{{Winning percentage|79|74}}|| 5th in NL || – || – || – || –
|-
![[1924 St. Louis Cardinals season|STL]]|| {{mlby|1924}}
||GM||65||89||{{Winning percentage|65|89}}|| 6th in NL || – || – || – || –
|-
![[1925 St. Louis Cardinals season|STL]]|| {{mlby|1925}}
||38||13||25||{{Winning percentage|13|25}}|| fired || – || – || – || –
|-
! colspan="2"|STL total || 943 || 458 || 485 || {{Winning percentage|458|485}} || || 0 || 0 || – ||
|-
! colspan="2"|Total || 1261 || 597 || 664 || {{Winning percentage|597|664}} || || 0 || 0 || – || 
|}

==Head coaching record==
===College football===
{{CFB Yearly Record Start | type = coach | team = | conf = | bowl = | poll = no }}
{{CFB Yearly Record Subhead
 | name      = [[Allegheny Gators football|Allegheny Gators]]
 | conf      = Independent
 | startyear = 1904
 | endyear   = 1905
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
 | championship =
 | year         = [[1904 college football season|1904]]
 | name         = Allegheny
 | overall      = 5–5
 | conference   = 
 | confstanding = 
 | bowlname     = 
 | bowloutcome  = 
 | bcsbowl      = 
 | ranking      = no
 | ranking2     = no
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
 | championship =
 | year         = [[1905 college football season|1905]]
 | name         = Allegheny
 | overall      = 3–8
 | conference   = 
 | confstanding = 
 | bowlname     = 
 | bowloutcome  = 
 | bcsbowl      = 
 | ranking      = no
 | ranking2     = no
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Subtotal
 | name       = Allegheny
 | overall    = 8–13
 | confrecord = 
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Subhead
 | name      = [[Ohio Wesleyan Battling Bishops football|Ohio Wesleyan]]
 | conf      = [[Ohio Athletic Conference]]
 | startyear = 1906
 | endyear   = 1908
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
 | championship =
 | year         = [[1906 college football season|1906]]
 | name         = Ohio Wesleyan
 | overall      = 3–3–3
 | conference   = 1–1–2
 | confstanding = T–2nd
 | bowlname     = 
 | bowloutcome  = 
 | bcsbowl      = 
 | ranking      = no
 | ranking2     = no
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
 | championship =
 | year         = [[1907 college football season|1907]]
 | name         = Ohio Wesleyan
 | overall      = 7–3
 | conference   = 2–3
 | confstanding = 6th
 | bowlname     = 
 | bowloutcome  = 
 | bcsbowl      = 
 | ranking      = no
 | ranking2     = no
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
 | championship =
 | year         = [[1908 college football season|1908]]
 | name         = Ohio Wesleyan
 | overall      = 4–4
 | conference   = 2–3
 | confstanding = T–6th
 | bowlname     = 
 | bowloutcome  = 
 | bcsbowl      = 
 | ranking      = no
 | ranking2     = no
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Subtotal
 | name       = Ohio Wesleyan
 | overall    = 14–10–3
 | confrecord = 5–7–2
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record End
 | overall  = 22–23–3
 | bowls    = no
 | poll     = no
 | polltype = 
 | legend   = no
}}

==See also==
* [[List of Major League Baseball player–managers]]
* [[List of St. Louis Cardinals owners and executives]]
* [[List of Los Angeles Dodgers owners and executives]]
* [[List of Pittsburgh Pirates owners and executives]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book |author= Heidenry, John |title=The Gashouse Gang: How Dizzy Dean, Leo Durocher, Branch Rickey, Pepper Martin, and Their Colorful, Come-from-Behind Ball Club Won the World Series—and America's Heart—During the Great Depression |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781586484194 |isbn=978-1586485689 |year=2008 |publisher=PublicAffairs |url-access=registration}}
* {{cite book|last1=Kahn|first1=Roger|title=Rickey & Robinson: The True, Untold Story of the Integration of Baseball|date=2014|publisher=Rodale Press|isbn=978-1623362973|ref=Kahn|url=https://archive.org/details/rickeyrobinsontr0000kahn|url-access=registration}}
* {{cite book |author=Lowenfish, Lee |title=Branch Rickey: Baseball's Ferocious Gentleman |url=https://archive.org/details/branchrickeybase0000lowe |publisher=Bison Books |isbn= 978-0803224537 |year=2009 |url-access=registration |ref=Lowenfish}}
* {{cite book |author=O'Toole, Andrew |title=Branch Rickey in Pittsburgh: Baseball's Trailblazing General Manager for the Pirates, 1950–1955 |url=https://archive.org/details/branchrickeyinpi0000otoo/mode/2up |isbn=9780786408399 |year=2000 |publisher=McFarland & Company |url-access=registration |ref=O'Toole}}
* {{cite book |author=Polner, Murray |title=Branch Rickey: A Biography |url=https://archive.org/details/branchrickeybiog0000poln |isbn=978-0786426430 |year=1982 |publisher=McFarland & Company |url-access=registration |ref=Polner}}
* {{cite book |author=Shapiro, Michael |title=Bottom of the Ninth: Branch Rickey, Casey Stengel, and the Daring Scheme to Save Baseball from Itself |url=https://archive.org/details/bottomofninthbra0000shap_y6j9 |isbn=978-0805092363 |year=2010 |publisher=St. Martin's |url-access=registration}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
{{Wikiquote}}
* {{baseballstats|mlb=121181|espn=26770|br=r/rickebr01|fangraphs=1010934|brm=rickey001wes|retro=R/Prickb101}}
* {{baseball-reference manager|rickebr01}}
* {{Baseball Hall of Fame profile|rickey-branch}}
* {{Sabrbio|6d0ab8f3}}
* {{Find a Grave}}

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{{Los Angeles Dodgers HOF}}
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{{Pittsburgh Pirates HOF}}
{{SN Executive of the Year}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Rickey, Branch}}
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