Commentary: Rickey’s part in civil rights shouldn’t be overlooked

High school sports results for May 26
5/26/12
Reds' six-game winning streak broken
5/26/12
Annual Warrior Soccer Classic kicks off today
5/26/12
Dragons' rally falls short against Lansing
5/26/12
WSU baseball ousted from tournament
5/26/12
> More sports headlines

By Marc Katz, Staff Writer 8:52 PM Sunday, June 21, 2009

Branch Rickey was as much a part of Major League Baseball’s Civil Rights Game in Cincinnati as Jackie Robinson.

Rickey was the guy who hastened the game’s equality by signing Robinson to an organized baseball contract, first with the Montreal Royals, then with the Brooklyn Dodgers, whom he joined in 1947.

“He (Rickey) was a conservative progressive,” said Lee Lowenfish, the Columbia University professor who has written “Branch Rickey, Baseball’s Ferocious Gentleman.”

It’s a 598-page book that is fascinating for more than Rickey’s busting baseball’s unseemly color barrier.

“He (Rickey) had a very deep conviction about how bad slavery was,” Lowenfish said. He said Robinson was signed not only because he was a good player, but because it was the right thing to do as “the man, the moment and the issue all came together.”

Oddly, Rickey did own people, sort of. He’s the gent who began what we know of as the minor-league system, starting in the 1920s by buying up ballclubs and players for the team he ran then, the Cardinals. At one point, the Cards operated more than 30 minor-league teams and owned rights to more than 700 players.

If you want to know how baseball arrived where it is today, read about Branch Rickey.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2157 or mkatz@DaytonDailyNews.com.

Share this article