Branch Rickey in Pittsburgh
by Andrew O'Toole

Anyone past the first grade in baseball school knows that Branch Rickey signed Jackie Robinson, integrating major league baseball in 1947. They likely know that Rickey was the architect of the great Brooklyn teams of the late '40s, and of the Cardinals of the late '30s to mid '40s. But it is often forgotten that he bowed out as a general manager when he ran the Pirates from 1 950-55.

If you know your baseball, you will recall that the Pirates of that era were pretty bad. But this book is about Rickey, who knew the end of his active career was coming, putting together one final team. Between opening the Latin pipeline for Pittsburgh and signing and developing U.S. players, Rickey laid the foundation for the fine Pirate teams of the late '50s-early '60s.

As O'Toole points out, "Branch found the prosperity he enjoyed with the Cardinals and Dodgers not easily repeated. Rickey employed his timeworn methods while striving to build a winner for Pittsburgh, which curiously meant stripping the Pirates of every player with any semblance of talent and starting from scratch. The rebuilding process would begin at the bottomŠ in the farm system." During his tenure, the Pirates went 269-501. But while Joe L. Brown got the credit from the Mazeroski Pirates who beat the Yankees in '61, Rickey was responsible for Vern Law, Bob Friend, Elroy Face, Maz, Dick Groat, Roberto Clemente and Bob Skinner. These guys were either on those rotten teams of the early '50s or signed by Rickey's scouts.