Branch Rickey

December 13, 2010
Pulitzer Prize–winning Breslin offers this slim biography on baseball manager and executive Branch Rickey, a man Breslin refers to as a “Great American.” What results is a well-rounded look at a man who not only reformed competitive sports but also influenced the norms of society by helping Jackie Robinson break baseball’s color barrier. Born to a tight-knit family in Ohio in the late 19th century, Rickey’s career as a major league player didn’t last long (as a catcher, he once allowed 13 stolen bases in a game), so he graduated from law school and became the manager of the St. Louis Browns. Yet his most far-reaching achievements happened decades later during his time in Brooklyn, when he shook baseball to its foundations by bringing Robinson to the Dodgers. Rickey as general manager knew there would be backlash and Robinson would be subject to rampant racism, but he was undeterred and never stooped to the level of those who attempted to sabotage his work. As he later told a group of students, “racial extractions and color hues and forms of worship become secondary to what men can do.” Breslin’s gift for easy-to-read yet hard-hitting prose will touch even those who aren’t baseball fans.

Major League Baseball executive Branch Rickey was one of the most pivotal figures in baseball history. New York journalist Jimmy Breslin's brief biography details the life of a man whose accomplishments and groundbreaking spirit led him to sign Jackie Robinson, who broke the long-standing color barrier in the Major Leagues. Rickey brought in other minority players as well. Dick Hill delivers a gritty, enthusiastic account of Rickey's roots and successes, covering his life in baseball and his strong Christian principles. More could have been written--more has been written--but Breslin culls the important nuggets from Rickey's life, and Hill shapes them. Together, they craft the story of one of baseball's vanguards. M.B. (c) AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine