Growing up not only a baseball fan, but a Dodger fan…Branch Rickey was something of a legend. Much of my life his impact has been difficult to quantify. While baseball players stride the field to show what they can do, General Managers and others behind the scenes often remain intangible, even a mystery. If their teams are successful, General Managers receive credit, if they fail then they receive the blame but seldom is it explained why they deserve either. Branch Rickey is the rare example where just a little digging reveals greatness. Most people if they know his name at all know he contributed to breaking the color barrier in baseball by signing Jackie Robinson to a major-league contract. Less obvious is that he also signed the first Latino superstar Roberto Clemente and instituted the use of the batting helmet, batting cage and pitching machine. With the building of Dodgertown in Vero Beach, Florida Rickey created the modern spring training facility while his foray in baseball statistics (hiring the first full-time baseball statistician) helped make baseball the stat crazy sport that it is. MONEYBALL, a recent book and movie, tells the story of those who discovered that on base percentage, among other stats, can tell you more about a player’s potential than more traditional stats like batting average and home runs. Branch Rickey was the first to promote that stat 40 years earlier.

Now with that little bit of background, it is easier to see why a book that collects his wisdom might be desirable. This book does a nice job of reflecting that wisdom without a lot of filler or clutter but at the same time it is problematic to even consider this a book or even more so to review it as one. Definitely worth reading in short bursts, Rickey’s mind is considered the template for modern baseball, but even the most ardent baseball fan’s mind will wander after a too many pages of quotes and short descriptions which is generally what this book consists of. If you are a baseball fan, I recommend putting this book somewhere you will pick it up every so often and read a little bit at a time. No matter what era you grew up watching baseball, Rickey’s descriptions of how to pitch, hit and manage will sound as fresh as when you first became a fan. They may even remind you of why you became a fan. That his genius can still be seen in the game of baseball is part of why the sport remains so timeless.