William Augustus Greenlee (December 26, 1893 – July 7, 1952) was an American businessman in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania , who was born and raised in Marion, North Carolina . After migrating to Pittsburgh as a young man and working in the steel industry, he started to acquire his own businesses.
88-623: There he also bought the Pittsburgh Crawfords baseball team in 1931, founded the second Negro National League in 1933, serving as president; and built Greenlee Field , one of the few ball parks built for and owned by a Negro league team. Gus Greenlee was born in Marion, North Carolina in 1893. His father was a masonry contractor and his mother was a homemaker. Greenlee did not complete college, but his three older brothers did and pursued professional careers: two became doctors and one
176-507: A Presbyterian church in Ferguson, Missouri , at which Rickey was speaking. He noticed a colorful cardboard arrangement featuring two cardinal birds perched on a branch on a table. The arrangement's designer was a woman named Allie May Schmidt. Schmidt's father, a graphic designer , assisted Rickey in creating the logo that is part of a familiar staple on Cardinals uniforms. In 1923, Rickey also experimented with placing uniform numbers on
264-547: A 26–6 record, then defeated the New York Cubans in a close seven-game series for their only undisputed NNL pennant. In retrospect, many historians consider this edition of the Crawfords to be the greatest Negro league team of all time, featuring the four Hall of Famers, plus left-handed pitcher Leroy Matlock , who won 18 games without a defeat. After a mediocre first half (16–15) in 1936, the Crawfords rallied to win
352-612: A consolation prize for Ban Johnson's circuit. The war-disrupted 1918 campaign saw the Cardinals , managed by veteran minor-league pilot Jack Hendricks , perform poorly. They plummeted to last place in the National League, winning only 51 of 131 games during the shortened regular season, which ended September 2. Rickey, however, had by that point already enlisted as an officer in the United States Army , wearing
440-771: A desire by club owners to be perceived as representing the values and beliefs of everyday American white men. The service of black Americans in the Second World War, and the celebrated pre-war achievements of black athletes in American sports, such as Joe Louis in boxing and Jesse Owens in track, helped pave the way for the cultural shift necessary to break the barrier. Rickey knew that Robinson would face racism and discrimination. Rickey made it clear in their momentous first meeting that he anticipated wide-scale resistance both inside and outside baseball to opening its doors to black players. As predicted by Rickey, right from
528-522: A few years. Arguably, the farm system saved the minor leagues, by keeping them necessary after the television age began and minor league attendance figures declined. Rickey continued to develop the Cardinals up until the early 1940s. In his final year at St. Louis, 1942, the Cardinals had their best season in franchise history, winning 106 games and the World Series title. The team was led by
616-603: A friend for $ 1 million. His chances at complete franchise control at risk, O'Malley was forced to offer more money, and Rickey finally sold his portion for $ 1.05 million (equivalent to approximately $ 13,300,000 in 2023 ). Immediately upon leaving the Dodgers, Rickey was offered the position of executive vice president and general manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates by the team's new majority owner, John W. Galbreath . He joined them on November 1, 1950, one month after
704-469: A lawyer. In 1916, Greenlee traveled north by freight car to Pittsburgh, settling in the Hill District . This was the period of the first Great Migration , when more than one million black people left the rural South for work and opportunity in the industrial northern cities. In Pittsburgh Greenlee held several jobs in the steel mills, shining shoes and driving a cab. During World War I, he served in
792-673: A military uniform to work at the Cardinals' front office before reporting for duty in Washington. His leave of absence, or temporary resignation, from the team began August 31, 1918. He embarked by steamship for France and the Western Front in mid-September. Recovering from a bout of pneumonia contracted aboard ship, Rickey commanded a training unit of the Chemical Warfare Service that included Ty Cobb and Christy Mathewson . His unit saw action as part of
880-546: A need created by segregation. For instance, according to Vernell A. Lillie, professor emeritus of Africana studies at the University of Pittsburgh , Greenlee and other "runners" were respected. "They made their money probably from the numbers racket, but they turned that money into something very positive. If anybody wanted to buy a house, they could not go to Mellon Bank or Dollar Savings. They had to go to old man Greenlee, or to [William A. "Buzzy"] Robinson." Greenlee died of
968-495: A new Negro National League , acting as president; his Crawfords were charter members. The club narrowly lost the first-half title to the Chicago American Giants ; both teams claimed the second-half title, and Greenlee as league president awarded it to his Crawfords. The matter of the overall pennant was apparently never decided. The next season, as Gibson led the league with 16 home runs and Paige won 20 games,
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#17327837882341056-412: A new crop of players developed by the Cardinals, two of whom, Enos Slaughter and Stan Musial , became Hall of Famers ; and several others, among them future MVP Marty Marion , who were among the best at their position during their eras. Even their manager Billy Southworth was a product of their farm system. When Rickey's good friend Brooklyn Dodgers general manager Larry MacPhail enlisted in
1144-538: A persistent Hedges presented Rickey with a new opportunity: to become his top assistant and business manager of the MLB Browns themselves, at a substantial salary increase, effective after Michigan's 1913 baseball season. This time Rickey agreed to terms, and his career as a professional baseball executive was launched at age 31 on June 1, 1913. After three months in the Browns' front office, on September 17, 1913, Rickey
1232-658: A player for the professional Shelby Blues and as a coach at Ohio Wesleyan University and Allegheny College . His many achievements and deep Christian faith earned him the nickname "the Mahātmā " (guru). Wesley Branch Rickey was born on December 20, 1881, in Portsmouth, Ohio , the son of Jacob Frank Rickey and Emily (née Brown). Rickey was the uncle of Beth Rickey , a Louisiana political activist . He graduated from Valley High School in Lucasville, Ohio , in 1899. Rickey
1320-454: A player, Rickey returned to college, where he learned about administration from Philip Bartelme . Returning to the major leagues in 1913, Rickey embarked on a successful managing and executive career with the St. Louis Browns , St. Louis Cardinals , Brooklyn Dodgers and Pittsburgh Pirates . The Cardinals elected him to their team Hall of Fame in 2014. Rickey also had a career in football , as
1408-547: A stroke July 7, 1952. He is buried in Pittsburgh's Allegheny Cemetery . Greenlee knew little about baseball when he first started out. He took interest when the promoters of the Crawford Giants ran out of money, and he decided to give a charitable donation of the money he made from a speakeasy that he owned and money he made from getting into the banking business. His large payroll attracted some big name players in
1496-467: A team, which he later managed, from McKelvey High School, while Teenie's team formed from the Watt School. Twice the teams faced off resulting in a marginal win for Teenie's team in both games, prompting the two managers to join forces and create a predominantly black team. Greenlee bought the team in 1931. It was a time of an organizational vacuum, as the major African-American leagues of the 1920s,
1584-571: A temporary injunction to enforce the terms of Rickey's contract. The dispute was resolved in April 1917, when Rickey was permitted to assume his duties as the Cardinals' club president and business manager; he also purchased a small share of the team. Apart from his year as president of the Continental League in 1959–1960, Rickey would spend the remainder of his baseball career in the National League. Each of Rickey's first two seasons with
1672-450: Is known as the second Negro National League , and built Greenlee Field as a ball park for his team. During the mid-1930s, the Crawfords were one of the strongest Negro league teams ever assembled. As Richard L. Gilmore recounts in a 1996 article on the history of the team, the Crawfords began as an interracial team of local Hill District youth who played ball together in neighborhood sandlots. Resident families included black migrants from
1760-545: Is the definition of the modern GM. In the quarter century between 1926 and 1950, Rickey's Cardinals and Dodgers teams would win eight National League titles during his stewardship; the teams he left behind would win six more pennants within five years immediately after his departure from their front offices. Meanwhile, in 1926 , his first full year as manager, Hornsby led the Cardinals to their first World Series championship . Two more pennants followed in 1928 and 1930 , although each team fell to its American League foe in
1848-458: The 1950 Bucs , who lost 96 out of 153 games, finished in last place for only the third time in the 20th century. With an average player age of 28.6 years, they also were one of the oldest teams in the National League. Bringing several key aides with him from Brooklyn, Rickey began a tear-down/re-building process that would consume his entire five-year term as general manager. The Pirates finished eighth (and last) four times and seventh once, compiled
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#17327837882341936-713: The Craws , were a professional Negro league baseball team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania . The team, previously known as the Crawford Colored Giants, was named after the Crawford Bath House, a recreation center in the Crawford neighborhood of Pittsburgh's Hill District . In 1931 Gus Greenlee , an African-American businessman in Pittsburgh, bought the Crawfords. In 1933 he founded what
2024-744: The Detroit Tigers were the only other major-league club with as much as a single "farm team." At the MLB level, sophomore Jim Bottomley , a future Hall of Famer, took over the Cardinals' first base job and batted .371 with 194 hits. Twenty-year-old Ohio Wesleyan graduate Howard Freigau started 81 games at shortstop , and outfielders Ray Blades and Heinie Mueller became key contributors. The rosters of Rickey's farm teams in 1923 included another future Hall of Famer, Chick Hafey , as well as future 1920s Cardinal standouts Les Bell , Taylor Douthit , Fred Frankhouse and Wattie Holm . But while perfecting
2112-562: The Dominican Republic to play for the dictator Rafael Trujillo 's team. The Crawfords plunged to fifth place out of six teams with a 12–16 record. They partly recovered the next season, finishing third with a 24–16 record, but, with the exception of the 41-year-old Charleston, whose playing career was nearly over, the heart of the old Crawfords' team—Paige, Gibson, Bell—had all moved on to other teams. The Craws might have survived these losses, but their attendance flatlined after
2200-688: The First Gas Regiment . After the November 11, 1918, armistice ended hostilities, Rickey returned to the United States on December 23 and, when he resumed his duties with the Cardinals, he succeeded Hendricks as field manager for 1919 . Rickey's record as manager of the Cardinals for six full years, and part of a seventh, was relatively mediocre (458–485–4, .486). They did improve from only 53 victories in 1919 to 75 in 1920 . Then they posted winning marks from 1921 to 1923 . In 1920,
2288-520: The Montreal Royals , the Dodgers' International League affiliate, for the 1946 season. He would end up as the league's batting champion, and led the Royals to a dominant league championship. There was no statute officially banning blacks from baseball, only a universally recognized unwritten rule which no club owner was prepared to break that was perpetuated by culturally entrenched racism and
2376-782: The Negro National League and the Eastern Colored League , had fallen apart under pressures of the Great Depression . By late that year, Greenlee signed many of the top African-American stars to his team, most notably Satchel Paige . The next year, in 1932, Greenlee hired Hall of Famer Oscar Charleston as playing manager, and added Hall of Famers Josh Gibson , Judy Johnson , and Cool Papa Bell , along with other notable players such as William Bell , Jimmie Crutchfield , Rap Dixon , Sam Bankhead , and Ted Radcliffe . Playing as an independent club,
2464-788: The Toledo–Indianapolis Crawfords , before folding after season. In 1945, Greenlee formed a new, unrelated, Pittsburgh Crawfords in Branch Rickey 's new United States League . The league and the new Crawfords lasted two seasons. On June 28, 2008, in Pittsburgh, the Tampa Bay Rays and Pittsburgh Pirates honored the Negro leagues by wearing uniforms of the Jacksonville Red Caps and the Crawfords, respectively, in an interleague game. The Pirates won
2552-685: The Trudeau Sanatorium . Later, he moved into the Jacob Schiff cottage. Before his front office days, Rickey played both football and baseball professionally. In 1902, Rickey played professional football for the Shelby Blues of the " Ohio League ", the direct predecessor to the modern National Football League (NFL.) Rickey often played for pay with Shelby while he was attending Ohio Wesleyan. During his time with Shelby, Rickey became friends with his teammate Charles Follis , who
2640-786: The " Gashouse Gang ", who won the franchise's third World Series title. Despite the ravages of The Great Depression , the Cardinal farm system continued to expand during the 1930s, with 21 teams by 1935 , 28 in 1936 , and 33 in 1937 . Kenesaw Mountain Landis , the Commissioner of Baseball , was concerned that Rickey's minor league system was going to ruin baseball by destroying existing minor league teams, and he twice released over 70 Cardinal minor leaguers. Despite Landis' efforts, Rickey's minor league system continued to thrive, and similar systems were adopted by every major league team within
2728-478: The 1880s. This policy had continued under a succession of baseball leaders, including Landis, who was openly opposed to integrating Major League Baseball for what he regarded as legitimate reasons. Landis died in 1944, but Rickey had already set the process in motion, having sought (and gained) approval from the Dodgers Board of Directors in 1943 to begin the search for "the right man." In early 1945, Rickey
Gus Greenlee - Misplaced Pages Continue
2816-555: The 1914 edition. The team's on-field struggles notwithstanding, Rickey maintained Hedges' confidence. But during the 1915–1916 offseason, as part of the settlement of the Federal League "war", Hedges sold the Browns to the former operator of the Feds' St. Louis entry , Philip DeCatesby Ball . The new owner brought along his own manager, Fielder Jones , and restricted an unhappy Rickey to front-office duties. Compounding matters,
2904-502: The 1938 season, Greenlee left baseball. He sold the baseball team and razed the ballpark, partly because he had lost the best players and partly because he owed money on a heavily played number.(Riley) In 1945, he made a comeback in alliance with Branch Rickey , related to Rickey's projected integration of the major leagues. They established the United States League as a method to scout black players specifically to break
2992-483: The Cardinals to 82 wins and a third-place finish. During the 1920s, Hornsby would become the cornerstone of the franchise as it became a National League pennant contender. But Huggins, who had been a member of a rival ownership group that lost its bid for the Cardinals to Breadon's syndicate, departed for the New York Yankees at season's end; there he would lead an eventual American League and MLB powerhouse as
3080-474: The Cardinals would be overshadowed by the United States' entry into World War I , on April 2, 1917. Despite their last-place standing in 1916, Rickey inherited two Hall-of-Fame assets: 21-year-old infielder Rogers Hornsby and the Cardinals' manager, Miller Huggins . Each contributed to a strong bounce-back season in 1917 : Hornsby batted .327 in 145 games and led the team in hits , and Huggins guided
3168-421: The Cardinals' scouting corps, headed by Charley Barrett (1871–1939), who introduced tryout camps to identify young amateur talent across the U.S. to fill the pipeline. Soon, other organization graduates joined the team, among them future Hall of Famers Dizzy Dean and Joe Medwick , nicknamed "Ducky", and Dean's brother Paul "Daffy" Dean . The Deans and Medwick were integral parts of the 1934 Redbirds , known as
3256-597: The Crawford Grill until 1951, when it was destroyed by a fire. In 1932, Greenlee purchased a plot of land and developed Greenlee Field , one of the early black ballparks. (Contrary to popular opinion, it was not the first; it followed the Walker brothers' ballpark at the corner of Chauncey and Hombre Way, also in the Hill District.) The stadium was made of concrete and steel. It seated 7,500 fans. The ballpark
3344-546: The Crawfords immediately established themselves as perhaps the best black team in the United States. The Crawfords played in the new Greenlee Field , named after the owner and builder; this was one of the few parks to be built and owned by a Negro League team. Paige and Gibson often unwound at the Crawford Grill , one of black Pittsburgh's favorite night spots, where the likes of singers Lena Horne and Bill "Bojangles" Robinson entertained. In 1933, Greenlee founded
3432-509: The Crawfords were near the top of the overall standings, but won neither half. Records of all games against league opponents, not just those considered official league games, show the Crawfords with far and away the best record for 1934. In 1935, Paige skipped most of the NNL season to play for a semipro team in North Dakota. Despite his absence, the Crawfords took the first-half title with
3520-464: The Dodgers from a Negro leagues club. Rickey also attempted to sign Monte Irvin but Newark Eagles business owner Effa Manley refused to allow Irvin to leave her club without compensation. When she threatened to sue him in court, Rickey stopped the pursuit of Irvin, who would later sign with the New York Giants . Amid much fanfare, Jackie debuted, and turned out to be a success. Robinson
3608-641: The Hill: Rise of the Pittsburgh Crawfords". Carnegie Museum of Art: Storyboard. http://blog.cmoa.org/2014/09/kings-on-the-hill-rise-of-the-pittsburgh-crawfords/ (retrieved June 9, 2017). Branch Rickey As manager As general manager Wesley Branch Rickey (December 20, 1881 – December 9, 1965) was an American baseball player and sports executive. Rickey was instrumental in breaking Major League Baseball 's color barrier by signing black player Jackie Robinson . He also created
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3696-737: The Milwaukee Brewers, the Pirates wore Pittsburgh Crawford uniforms while the Brewers wore the respective Negro league uniforms of the Milwaukee Bears. On July 13, 2018, during the Milwaukee Brewers game at the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Brewers wore the Negro league uniforms of the Milwaukee Bears while the Pirates wore their respective Pittsburgh Crawford uniforms. On June 1, 2019, during the Milwaukee Brewers game at
3784-578: The NNL's second half with a 20–9 record. Paige had returned, and contributed an 11–3 record. The playoff with the first-half winners, the Washington Elite Giants , apparently only lasted one game (the Elite Giants winning, 2–0) before it was called off for unknown reasons. Greenlee awarded the pennant to the Crawfords, over Washington's protests. In 1937, Paige led several Crawfords players, including Gibson, Bell, and Bankhead to
3872-424: The Negro leagues, as it fielded five Baseball Hall of Fame players. Money also enabled Greenlee's economic success also resulted in his building a ballpark for his team, known as Greenlee Field . When he bought the Pittsburgh Crawfords in 1931, he was insulted that his players were not allowed to use the dressing rooms at white-owned or -controlled venues such as Forbes Field , Ammon Field , and others. Following
3960-462: The Negro leagues. He would eventually make the Crawford Giants his team by getting rid of the players that were there before him and bringing in new players. Greenlee also owned a future light-heavyweight boxing champion, which added to his reputation. In 1933, Greenlee organized the annual East-West Classic, an all-star baseball game in Chicago at Comiskey Park, between Negro league stars; it became
4048-570: The Pittsburgh Pirates PNC Park , the Brewers wore the Negro league uniforms of the Milwaukee Bears while the Pirates wore their respective Pittsburgh Crawford uniforms. On September 9, 2022, during the St. Louis Cardinals game at the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Cardinals wore the Negro league uniforms of the St. Louis Stars while the Pirates wore their respective Pittsburgh Crawford uniforms. Ruck, Rob (September 29, 2014). "Kings on
4136-470: The South and European immigrants, all of whom were attracted to industrial jobs in the city. As the Hill District teams became more competitive and professionalized, lines of color were drawn. The teams became formalized initially through the efforts of Bill Harris (originally of Calhoun, Alabama ) and Teenie Harris (no relation), who managed teams that emerged from local Hill schools. Bill Harris played with
4224-635: The Tigers wore the respective Negro league uniforms of the Detroit Stars . They wore their respective uniforms again on May 19, 2012. On August 21, 2010, during the Pittsburgh Pirates game against the New York Mets, the Pirates wore Pittsburgh Crawford uniforms while the Mets wore the respective Negro league uniforms of the New York Cubans . On July 18, 2015, during the Pittsburgh Pirates game at
4312-531: The World Series. By 1931 , Rickey's Cardinals were the class of the National League . They won 101 games in 1931 and won the World Series in seven games over the defending champion Philadelphia Athletics . The star of the 1931 World Series was rookie Pepper Martin , a 1928 graduate of Rickey's player development system. With eight owned or affiliated farm teams by 1931, the system was fed by
4400-518: The army to serve in World War II after the 1942 season, the Dodgers hired Rickey to replace him as president and general manager, ending a tenure of over two decades with the Cardinals. In 1945, the Dodger ownership reorganized, with Rickey acquiring 25% of Dodger stock to become an equal partner with three other owners. Rickey continued to innovate in his time with Brooklyn. He was responsible for
4488-564: The beginning of a lifelong friendship and business relationship between Rickey and Bartelme. Bartelme and Rickey worked together for most of the next 35 years, and in 1944 a California newspaper noted: "He and Rickey have had a close association in baseball ever since Bartelme was head of the athletic department of the University of Michigan where Rickey took to baseball just as a means to build up his failing health." During his four years as head baseball coach from 1910 to 1913, Rickey's record
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#17327837882344576-573: The black 367th regiment. Having saved his money, in 1924 Greenlee bought the Collins Inn; he gradually became one of the most influential African-American business owners in Pittsburgh. He acquired the Crawford Grill nightclub and in 1931 bought the Pittsburgh Crawfords Negro league baseball team, which had declined. In 1933 he founded the Negro National League , acting as president. He later built Greenlee Field , one of
4664-419: The centerpiece of the baseball season. That same year he was the primary founder of the second Negro National League , which he served as president for five seasons. For a while, the Crawfords were the best-financed team in black baseball. Revenue generated from his gambling and bootlegging operations enabled Greenlee to sign black baseball's biggest names. The 1935 squad may have been the best ever to play in
4752-583: The color line. It is unclear if the league played the 1945 season, or if it was used only as a front to achieve integration of the major leagues. In October of that year, Rickey signed Jackie Robinson , who never played in the USL. The 1946 season lasted only a few weeks before the league folded. Robinson went on the break the Major League color line in 1947 with Rickey's Brooklyn Dodgers . Greenlee left baseball permanently after 1946 but continued to operate
4840-532: The cover story of forming a new team in the USL called the "Brooklyn Brown Dodgers." The Dodgers were, in fact, looking for the right man to break the color line. On August 28, 1945, Rickey signed Robinson, who never played in the USL, to a minor league contract. Robinson had been playing in the Negro leagues for the Kansas City Monarchs . On October 23, 1945, it was announced that Robinson would join
4928-480: The few built and owned by a Negro league team. Greenlee also was known as a numbers runner and racketeer. He acted as a philanthropist to fellow blacks in the community, providing scholarships for students to get education, and grants for adults to buy homes. Such opportunities were not customarily available, because of the segregated policies of white-controlled financial institutions. Scholars suggest that Greenlee's success be read as an enterprising attempt to fill
5016-450: The financially strapped team and keep it from moving elsewhere. Searching for a chief executive, they reached out to seven St. Louis sportswriters and asked for recommendations; all seven separately suggested Rickey. But, before he could join the Cardinals, Rickey had to sort out his existing obligations to Ball and the Browns. American League president and founder Ban Johnson , determined to keep Rickey in his league, pressured Ball to seek
5104-489: The first full-time spring training facility, in Vero Beach, Florida , and encouraged the use of now-commonplace tools such as the batting cage , pitching machines , and batting helmets . He also pioneered the use of statistical analysis in baseball (what is now known as sabermetrics ), when he hired statistician Allan Roth as a full-time analyst for the Dodgers in 1947. After viewing Roth's evidence, Rickey promoted
5192-417: The framework for the modern minor league farm system , encouraged the major leagues to add new teams through his involvement in the proposed Continental League , and introduced the batting helmet . He was posthumously elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1967. Rickey played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Browns and New York Highlanders from 1905 through 1907. After struggling as
5280-417: The game, 4–3 in 13 innings. On July 5, 2008, during the Pittsburgh Pirates game against the Milwaukee Brewers, the Pirates wore Pittsburgh Crawford uniforms while the Brewers wore the respective Negro league uniforms of the Milwaukee Bears . On June 12, 2010, in Detroit, during an interleague game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Detroit Tigers , the Pirates wore Pittsburgh Crawford uniforms while
5368-461: The greatest favor one man has ever done to another." Although he was not the first executive titled as a general manager in Major League Baseball history — his actual title was business manager — through his activities, including inventing and building the farm system , Rickey came to embody the position of the baseball operations executive who mastered roster construction, scouting, player acquisition and development, and business affairs, which
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#17327837882345456-403: The hotel for the night, he never forgot the incident and later said, "I may not be able to do something about racism in every field, but I can sure do something about it in baseball." The business element was based on the fact that the Negro leagues had numerous star athletes, and logically, the first Major League team to hire them would get the first pick of the players at an attractive price. At
5544-406: The idea that on-base percentage was a more important hitting statistic than batting average . While working under Rickey, Roth was also the first person to provide statistical evidence that platoon effects were real and quantifiable. Rickey's most memorable act with the Dodgers involved signing Jackie Robinson , thus breaking baseball's color barrier , which had been an unwritten rule since
5632-405: The job, almost all of Rickey's power would be gone; for example, he would no longer take a percentage of every franchise sale. Rickey declined a new contract as president. Then, to be a majority owner, O'Malley offered to buy Rickey's portion. Seeing no reason to hold on to the club, Rickey decided to comply. In a final act of retaliation against O'Malley, Rickey instead offered the club percentage to
5720-423: The major leagues with the St. Louis Browns in 1905. Sold to the New York Highlanders in 1907, Rickey could neither hit nor field while with the club, and his batting average dropped below .200. One opposing team stole 13 bases in one game while Rickey was behind the plate, which was an American League record until 1911. Rickey also injured his throwing arm and retired as a player following that season. Rickey
5808-521: The men's personalities clashed, and as the 1916 season concluded, Rickey began searching for other employment. Coincidentally, the National League's St. Louis Cardinals were also enduring a period of ownership turmoil. In 1916 , they had finished eighth and last in the Senior Circuit and attracted a league-worst 224,308 fans to Robison Field , and their owner, Helene Hathaway Britton , put them up for sale. A local consortium of businessmen, including automobile dealer Sam Breadon , quickly formed to buy
5896-421: The ownership of the team stabilized when Sam Breadon purchased controlling interest and took over, from Rickey, as club president. On the field, the club was led by second baseman Hornsby, who batted over .400 three times (and .397 once). Others—such as Jack Fournier , Jesse Haines , Austin McHenry and Jack Smith —also contributed to the team's surge. But McHenry's tragic death from a brain tumor in 1922
5984-400: The process of player development was his most important achievement of the time, Rickey also contributed to the sartorial appearance of the Cardinals. For the first time, they wore uniforms that featured the two distinctive cardinal birds perched on a baseball bat over the name "Cardinals" with the letter "C" of the word hooked over the bat in 1922 . The concept of this pattern originated in
6072-447: The sleeves of his players to help fans identify them. The practice was abandoned after only one season, but putting numbers on the backs of uniform shirts became widespread during the 1930s. When the Cardinals' 1925 season began poorly, Breadon fired Rickey from his manager's post on May 30. At 13–25, the club was in last place in the National League, 13 games out of the lead. Hornsby was named player–manager to succeed him. Aged 43 at
6160-534: The stage for the Dodgers to be contenders for decades to come. And it opened the door for other leaders like Larry Doby of the Cleveland Indians , who integrated the American League in 1947, as well. From 1945 through 1950, Rickey was one of four owners of the Dodgers, each with one quarter of the franchise. When one of the four ( John L. Smith ) died, Walter O'Malley took control of that quarter. Also in 1950, Branch Rickey's contract as Dodger president expired, and Walter O'Malley decided that were Rickey to retain
6248-458: The start Robinson faced obstacles among his teammates and other teams' players. No matter how harsh the white people were towards Robinson, he could not retaliate. Robinson had agreed with Rickey not to lose his temper and jeopardize the chances of all the blacks who would follow him if he could help break down the barriers. Red Barber recounted in Ken Burns 's documentary Baseball that Rickey's determination to desegregate Major League Baseball
6336-504: The time of his firing, Rickey had been a player, manager and executive in the Major Leagues, and there had been little indication to this point that he would ever belong in a baseball hall of fame. However, Breadon could not deny Rickey's acumen for player development, and asked him to stay to run the front office. An embittered Rickey stated, "You can't do this to me, Sam. You are ruining me." "No." Breadon responded, "I am doing you
6424-568: The time, Mexican brewery czar Jorge Pasquel was raiding America for black talent (e.g. Satchel Paige ), as well as disgruntled white players, for the Mexican League with the idea of creating an integrated league that could compete on a talent level with the U.S. major leagues. However idealistic, Rickey did not compensate Monarchs ownership for the rights to obtain Robinson, nor did he pay for rights to Don Newcombe , who would also join
6512-603: The time. Rickey steered them to a 5–6–1 record over the last 12 games of their 1913 season. Then, in 1914 , with Rickey in charge from the first day of spring training , they improved by 14 games, jumping from eighth to fifth place in the American League . However, the 1915 Browns took a giant step backwards; despite the June signing of the player who would become one of the greatest in franchise history—future Hall of Famer Sisler—they went only 63–91, 8½ games poorer than
6600-541: The white members of the team's board forced Greenlee to shut out blacks from jobs at Greenlee Field (ushers, ticket-takers, etc.). Greenlee sold the club, Greenlee Field was demolished and the Crawfords moved to Toledo and the Negro American League , becoming the Toledo Crawfords , for the 1939 season. For the 1940 season, the team split their home games between Toledo and Indianapolis, becoming
6688-798: Was 68–32–4. In his final season, the Michigan squad — led by brilliant sophomore first baseman and left-handed pitcher George Sisler , who batted .445 — compiled a 21–4–1 won-lost record, a winning percentage of .827. Rickey was a Freemason, first at Lucasville Lodge #465 in Ohio, then at Tuscan Lodge #360 in St. Louis . After arriving in Brooklyn , Rickey joined Montauk Masonic Lodge #286 in Brooklyn. Stricken with tuberculosis , he sought treatment in Saranac Lake, New York in 1908 and 1909 at
6776-570: Was a catcher on the baseball team at Ohio Wesleyan University , where he obtained his B.A. Rickey was a member of the Delta Tau Delta fraternity. Rickey attended the University of Michigan , where he received his LL.B. While at Michigan, Rickey applied for the job as Michigan's baseball coach. Rickey asked every alumnus he had ever met to write letters to Philip Bartelme , the school's athletic director, on his behalf. Bartelme recalled, "Day after day those letters came in." Bartelme
6864-410: Was a difficult blow for the Cardinals to absorb. They fell from 87 to 85 to 79 wins over the 1921–1923 period; then, in 1924 , they dropped below .500 and finished 76–78. Off the field, Rickey and Breadon pursued the farm system concept. By 1923, the Cardinals had ownership stakes or affiliations with five minor-league teams, including top-level Syracuse , Class A Houston , and Class C Fort Smith ;
6952-459: Was also appointed field manager, replacing incumbent George Stovall and adding those responsibilities to his existing duties. Veteran players Jimmy Austin and, later, Burt Shotton became Rickey's "Sunday managers", running the Browns on the Sabbath in the young pilot's absence. The Browns, in the midst of one of several low points during their 52-year history, were 52–90 and in last place at
7040-460: Was anticipating the integration of black players into Major League Baseball. Rickey, along with Gus Greenlee who was the owner of the original Pittsburgh Crawfords , created the United States League (USL) as a method to scout black players specifically to break the color line. It is unclear if the league actually played the 1945 season or if it was only used as a pretense for integration. Around this time, Rickey held tryouts of black players, under
7128-628: Was assigned to the Le Mars Blackbirds of the Class D Iowa–South Dakota League . During this period, Rickey also spent two seasons–1904 and 1905—coaching baseball, basketball and football at Allegheny College in Pennsylvania where he also served as athletic director and as an instructor of Shakespeare, English, and freshman history. A left-handed-batting catcher , he played in both baseball's minor and major leagues. Rickey debuted in
7216-399: Was baseball's first rookie of the year , and while he was often jeered by opposing baseball players, managers, and fans, he became extremely popular with the American public. His success became the crowning achievement of Rickey's illustrious career. His Dodgers would make the World Series that year. Although they lost in seven games to the New York Yankees , Rickey's vision and action had set
7304-414: Was born out of a combination of idealism and astute business sense. The idealism was at least partially rooted in an incident involving a team for which Rickey worked early on. While managing at Ohio Wesleyan University, a black player, Charles Thomas, was extremely upset at being refused accommodation, because of his race, at the hotel where the team stayed. Though an infuriated Rickey managed to get him into
7392-589: Was designed by Pittsburgh's first African-American architect, Louis Arnett Stuart Bellinger . It cost Greenlee nearly $ 100,000, of which he financed over half. Lights for evening play and a tarp to shield fans from the sun during the day were added in 1933. The first game at the field attracted 4,000 fans as some seating was still under construction. For a time, the field was also used for the Pittsburgh Steelers football practice. Pittsburgh Crawfords The Pittsburgh Crawfords , popularly known as
7480-542: Was in his third year as the Wolverines' baseball coach when St. Louis Browns owner Robert Hedges rewarmed their relationship. Hedges inquired if Rickey were interested in running the minor-league Kansas City Blues , which he was thinking of purchasing. Citing his commitment to Michigan, Rickey turned Hedges down, but he agreed to do some part-time scouting for the Browns in the West during the summer of 1912. That September,
7568-438: Was reportedly impressed with Rickey's passion for baseball and his idealism about the proper role of athletics on a college campus. Bartelme convinced the dean of the law school that Rickey could handle his law studies while serving as the school's baseball coach. Bartelme reportedly called Rickey into his office to tell him he had the job if only "to put a stop to those damn letters that come in every day." The hiring also marked
7656-587: Was the first black professional football player. He also played against him on October 17, 1903, when Follis ran for a 70-yard touchdown against the Ohio Wesleyan football team. After that game Rickey praised Follis, calling him "a wonder." It is also possible that Follis' poise and class under the pressures of such racial tension, as well as his exceptional play in spite of it, inspired Rickey to sign Jackie Robinson decades later. Rickey, however, stated his inspiration for bringing Jackie Robinson into baseball
7744-546: Was the ill-treatment he saw received by his black catcher Charles Thomas on the Ohio Wesleyan baseball team coached by Rickey in 1903 and 1904 and the gentlemanly way Thomas handled it. When Rickey signed Robinson, Charles Thomas' story was made known in the papers In 1903, Rickey signed a contract with the Terre Haute Hottentots of the Class B Central League , making his professional debut on June 20. Rickey
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