Branch Rickey

Branch Rickey (1881-1965), American baseball executive, who developed the farm system, whereby major league teams own controlling interests in minor league clubs in order to obtain promising young players. He was born in Stockdale, Ohio, and educated at Ohio Wesleyan University and the University of Michigan Law School, from which he received a J.D. degree in 1911. He practiced law (1911-13), was manager of the St. Louis Browns of the American League (1913-17), and served in World War I from 1917 to 1919. In 1919 Rickey became manager of the St. Louis Cardinals. He built up a Cardinal team that won six National League pennants in 17 years. He served as general manager of the Cardinals (1925-42), Brooklyn Dodgers (1942-50), and Pittsburgh Pirates (1950-59); his teams won many league and World Series championships. In 1945, as general manager of the Dodgers, he hired the first African American to play modern major league baseball, Jackie Robinson. He was posthumously elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1967.