What is Branch Rickey?
[[File:Branch Rickey 1912.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Rickey in 1912]] '''Wesley Branch Rickey''' (December 20, 1881 – December 9, 1965) was an [[Americans|American]] [[Major League Baseball]] (MLB) executive. He was elected to the [[Baseball Hall of Fame]] in 1967. He was best known for breaking Major League Baseball's [[Baseball color line|color barrier]] by signing [[African American]] player [[Jackie Robinson]], for drafting the first Afro-Hispanic superstar, [[Roberto Clemente]], for creating the framework for the modern [[Minor league baseball|minor league]] [[Farm team|farm system]], for encouraging the Major Leagues to add new teams through his involvement in the proposed [[Continental League]], and for introducing the [[batting helmet]]. ==Further reading== *''Branch Rickey: Baseball's Ferocious Gentleman'', by Lee Lowenfish (University of Nebraska Press); winner of the Seymour Medal for 2008, nominee for 2007 [[CASEY Award]], Roy Kaplan's Baseball Bookshelf * ''Branch Rickey: A Biography'' by Murray Polner Atheneum; Signet; and MacFarland, publishers * ''Branch Rickey'' by [[Jimmy Breslin]]; Viking 2011 ==Other websites== *{{Find a Grave|6644}} {{US-sports-bio-stub}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Rickey, Brach}} [[Category:1881 births]] [[Category:1965 deaths]] [[Category:Deaths from heart failure]] [[Category:Businesspeople from Ohio]]