Branch Rickey: Baseball's Ferocious Gentleman by Lee Lowenfish (Introduction)

From the Publisher

He was not much of a player and not much more of a manager, but by the time Branch Rickey (1881-1965) finished with baseball, he had revolutionized the sport—not just once but three times. In this definitive biography of Rickey—the man sportswriters dubbed "The Brain," "The Mahatma," and, on occasion, "El Cheapo"—Lee Lowenfish tells the full, colorful story of a life that forever changed the face of America's game.

From 1917 to 1942, Rickey was the mastermind behind the Saint Louis Cardinals who enabled small-market clubs to compete with the rich and powerful by creating the farm system . Under his direction in the 1940s, the Brooklyn Dodgers became the first true "America's team." By signing Jackie Robinson and other black players, he single-handedly thrust baseball into the forefront of the civil rights movement. Lowenfish evokes the peculiarly American complex of God, family, and baseball that informed Rickey's actions and his accomplishments. His book offers an intriguing, richly detailed portrait of a man whose life is itself a crucial chapter in the history of American business, sport, and society.

David L. Ulin - Los Angeles Times

A fascinating glimpse of the game's roots . . . Lowenfish's take is detailed and nuanced . . . Where Lowenfish is at his best is inexplicating the complex and often contradictory impulses that drove his subject . . .

Bill Madden - New York Daily News

Our heartiest recommendation . . . a fitting and admirable tribute to the 60th anniversary of Jackie Robinson's breaking of the color line [by] a respected baseball scholar. . . . chock full of revelations and great anecdotes on Rickey's life.

Wes Lukowsky - Booklist

Lowenfish . . . presents a three-dimensional portrait . . . the depth and thoroughness of Lowenfish's research makes this the definitive biography of baseball's most influential executive.

Trenton Times

It took Lowenfish 10 years to research and write this book, and that devotion and dedication has paid off. . . . An important biography.
&3151;Rick Freeman

AARP The Magazine

This biography of the Brooklyn Dodgers executive, best known for hiring Jackie Robinson, is set against the larger story of evolving social changes in the United States in the 1940s and 1950s.

Bob Cottrell, Margaret Heilbrun, Paul Kaplan, Gilles Renaud Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information - Library Journal

Though this book is intended as the definitive biography of the man who developed baseball's farm system and who desegregated the major leagues, the chapter titles—e.g.,"A Branch Grows in Brooklyn" and "A Branch Doesn't Grow Fast Enough in Pittsburgh"—may not inspire confidence. Lowenfish is firmly in the pro-Rickey camp on the question of the man's motives in signing black ball players but gives equal attention to every phase of an extensive career. For thorough baseball collections.

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Table of Contents