Branch Rickey was born on December 20, 1881 in Flat, Ohio, USA. He was married to Jane Moulton. He died on December 9, 1965 in Columbia, Missouri, USA.
He had a mediocre major league playing career as a catcher at the turn
of the twentieth century.
Helped break baseball's color line by signing up Jackie Robinson to the
Brooklyn Dodgers, who became the modern major league's first
African-American player in 1947.
As an executive with the Brooklyn Dodgers, pioneered the use of
baseball statistics for evaluating players.
He invented the modern farm system while as an executive with the St.
Louis Cardinals during the 1920s and 1930s.
Elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame by the Committee on Baseball
Veterans in 1967.
Trade a player a year too early rather than a year too late.
Baseball is a game of inches.
(Responding to Ralph Kiner's request for a raise in salary while Rickey
was the general manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates during the early
fifties) "We finished last with you, we can finish last without you."
(Kiner was traded later on)
The greatest untapped reservoir of raw material in the history of our
game is the black race.