44 Quotes by Branch Rickey
Wesley Branch Rickey, born on December 20, 1881, was an influential figure in American sports history, particularly in baseball. Rickey's impact as a baseball executive, innovator, and trailblazer cannot be overstated. He played a crucial role in breaking the color barrier in Major League Baseball by signing Jackie Robinson, the first African American player in the modern era. Rickey's forward-thinking approach and commitment to equality laid the foundation for the integration of professional sports and helped pave the way for social progress.
Beyond his efforts in racial integration, Rickey also revolutionized the game of baseball with his implementation of the minor league farm system, which transformed player development and team dynamics. His keen eye for talent and astute managerial skills led to successful runs with teams such as the St. Louis Cardinals and the Brooklyn Dodgers. Rickey's legacy extends beyond the sport of baseball, as his impact resonates in the realms of civil rights and social justice. His courage, vision, and unwavering commitment to equality forever changed the landscape of professional sports and left an enduring mark on American history.
Branch Rickey Quotes
Some day I'm going to have to stand before God, and if He asks me why I didn't let that [Jackie] Robinson fellow play ball, I don't think saying 'because of the color of his skin' would be a good enough answer.
It is not the honor that you take with you, but the heritage you leave behind. (Meaning)
I find fault with my children because I like them and I want them to go places - uprightness and strength and courage and civil respect and anything that affects the probabilities of failure on the part of those that are closest to me, that concerns me - I find fault.
I cannot face my God much longer knowing that his black creatures are held separate and distinct from his white creatures in the game that has given me all that I can call my own.
Things worthwhile generally don’t just happen. Luck is a fact, but should not be a factor. Good luck is what is left over after intelligence and effort have combined at their best. Negligence or indifference are usually reviewed from an unlucky seat. The law of cause and effect and causality both work the same with inexorable exactitudes. Luck is the residue of design.
Man may penetrate the outer reaches of the universe, he may solve the very secret of eternity itself but for me, the ultimate human experience is to witness the flawless execution of the hit-and-run.
A game of great charm in the adoption of mathematical measurements to the timing of human movements, the exactitudes and adjustments of physical ability to hazardous chance. The speed of the legs, the dexterity of the body, the grace of the swing, the elusiveness of the slide - these are the features that make Americans everywhere forget the last syllable of a man's last name or the pigmentation of his skin.
Success is that place in the road where preparation meets opportunity.
If things don't come easy, there is no premium on effort. There should be joy in the chase, zest in the pursuit.
Worry is simply thinking the same thing over and over again and not doing anything about it.
Ethnic prejudice has no place in sports, and baseball must recognize that truth if it is to maintain stature as a national game.
It (a baseball box score) doesn't tell how big you are, what church you attend, what color you are, or how your father voted in the last election. It just tells what kind of baseball player you were on that particular day.
The greatest untapped reservoir of raw material in the history of our game is the black race.
Good luck is what is left over after intelligence and effort have combined at their best. Luck is the residue of design.
There never has been a man in the game who could put mind and muscle together quicker and with better judgment than Robinson.
Problems are the price you pay for progress.
I don't like the subtle infiltration of 'something for nothing' philosophies into the very hearthstone of the American family. I believe that 'Thou shalt earn the bread by the sweat of thy face' was a benediction and not a penalty. Work is the zest of life; there is joy in its pursuit.
Don't worry about your individual numbers. Worry about the team. If the team is successful, each of you will be successful, too.
First of all, a man, whether seeking achievement on the athletic field or in business, must want to win. He must feel that the thing he is doing is worthwhile; so worthwhile that he is willing to pay the price of success to attain distinction.
We win if the world is convinced of two things, that you are a fine gentleman, and a great baseball player.
Never surrender opportunity to security.
He's the best prospect I've ever seen.
A full mind is an empty bat.
Don't look at the hole in the doughnut. Look at the whole doughnut.
Thou shalt not steal. I mean defensively. On offense, indeed thou shall steal and thou must.
The man with the ball is responsible for what happens to the ball.
A great ballplayer is a player who will take a chance.
Thinking about the devil is worse than seeing the devil.
Leisure is the handmaiden of the devil.
The world’s not so simple anymore, I guess it never was. We ignored it, now we can’t.
Baseball people, and that includes myself, are slow to change and accept new ideas. I remember that it took years to persuade them to put numbers on uniforms.
Baseball people are generally allergic to new ideas; it took years to persuade them to put numbers on uniforms, and it is the hardest thing in the world to get Major League Baseball to change anything—even spikes on a new pair of shoes—but they will eventually...they are bound to.
Trade a player a year too early rather than a year too late.
I did not mind the public criticism. That sort of thing has not changed any program I thought was good.
How to use your leisure time is the biggest problem of a ballplayer.
Leo Durocher is a man with an infinite capacity for making a bad thing worse.
Baseball is a game of inches.
Only in baseball can a team player be a pure individualist first and a team player second, within the rules and spirit of the game.
These are uncertain times. We cannot be content to rest on yesterday's laurels. These are times when we must strengthen rather than let down those standards which have stood in such good stead in crises that are past. Baseball cannot be selfish, or irresponsible, or lax. Neither can the men who operate it.
The only thing Abner Doubleday ever started was the Civil War.
Branch Rickey made me a better man.
Luck is the residue of opportunity and design.
Fill in any figure you want for that boy (Mickey Mantle). Whatever the figure, it's a deal.
Luck is a residue of design.
― Branch Rickey Quotes
Chief Editor
Tal Gur is an author, founder, and impact-driven entrepreneur at heart. After trading his daily grind for a life of his own daring design, he spent a decade pursuing 100 major life goals around the globe. His journey and most recent book, The Art of Fully Living, has led him to found Elevate Society.
