Branch Rickey: Baseball's Ferocious Gentleman
Branch Rickey is mainly remembered for breaking baseball's long-standing segregationist position when he promoted Jackie Robinson to the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947, but his influence in the game extended far beyond that single act of courage and foresight. While running the St. Louis Cardinals from 1917 to 1942, Rickey also developed the concept of the "farm system": owning minor-league teams in order to develop prospects for the parent major-league team. Lowenfish, a historian and author ofTheImperfect Diamond: A History of Baseball's Labor Wars (1991), meticulously researches Rickey's life and presents a three-dimensional portrait of a man who, in addition to his baseball acumen, was a highly religious, socially conscious visionary. As much as he was revered, particularly in hindsight, Rickey was often in conflict with his peers, who viewed him as arrogant and abrasive, especially toward those who didn't share his values. Though much has been written about Rickey, the depth and thoroughness of Lowenfish's research make this the definitive biography of baseball's most influential executive.Wes LukowskyCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved