| rdfs:comment | - Wesley Branch Rickey (* 20. Dezember 1881 in Portsmouth, Ohio; † 9. Dezember 1965 in Columbia, Missouri) war ein US-amerikanischer Baseballspieler, -manager und -funktionär in der Major League Baseball. Sein Spitzname war The Mahatma.
- Rickey was born outside of Portsmouth, Ohio, USA, the son of Frank W. and Emily Brown Rickey. He was a catcher on the baseball team at Ohio Wesleyan and, in 1903, signed a professional contract with Terre Haute, Indiana of the Class B Central League, making his professional debut on June 20 1903. However, Rickey was not ready for the rigors of the tough Central League and was assigned to Le Mars, Iowa of the Class D Iowa-South Dakota League. Later, he spent two seasons in the major leagues, debuting as a St. Louis Brown in 1905. He hit fairly well in 1906, hitting two home runs in the same game on August 6, but fielded poorly, a fatal flaw for a catcher. Sold to the New York Highlanders in 1907, Rickey could neither hit nor field while with the club, and his batting average dropped below .
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| abstract | - Rickey was born outside of Portsmouth, Ohio, USA, the son of Frank W. and Emily Brown Rickey. He was a catcher on the baseball team at Ohio Wesleyan and, in 1903, signed a professional contract with Terre Haute, Indiana of the Class B Central League, making his professional debut on June 20 1903. However, Rickey was not ready for the rigors of the tough Central League and was assigned to Le Mars, Iowa of the Class D Iowa-South Dakota League. Later, he spent two seasons in the major leagues, debuting as a St. Louis Brown in 1905. He hit fairly well in 1906, hitting two home runs in the same game on August 6, but fielded poorly, a fatal flaw for a catcher. Sold to the New York Highlanders in 1907, Rickey could neither hit nor field while with the club, and his batting average dropped below .200. One opposing team stole 13 bases while Rickey was behind the plate, setting a record which still stands a century later. Rickey also injured his throwing arm and retired as a player after just one year. (During this period, Rickey also spent two seasons—1904 and 1905—coaching baseball and football and teaching at Allegheny College in Pennsylvania.) Rickey then spent several years at the University of Michigan as a coach and also earned an J.D.. For his undergraduate degree, he attended Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware, Ohio. He returned to the big leagues in 1913, as a front office executive with the Browns. He was responsible for signing young George Sisler. Rickey became the team's manager for the final 12 games of the season, and managed the team for 2 more full seasons. But the Browns finished under .500 both years and no one was surprised when Rickey was fired in 1916 when new ownership took over the club. Rickey served in the military for a few years, then returned to St. Louis in 1919, this time with the Cardinals, to become team president and manager. In 1920, Rickey gave up the team presidency to the Cards' new majority owner, Sam Breadon. He then led the Cardinals on the field for another five seasons, before his firing early in the 1925 season. His 6+ years as a manager were relatively mediocre, although the team posted winning records from 1921–23 and Rickey wisely invested in several minor league baseball clubs, using them to develop future talent for the Cardinals major league roster. He was 43 years old, had been a player, manager and executive in the Major Leagues and had shown no indication whatsoever that he would ever deserve to belong in the Baseball Hall of Fame. But even though he was not the first general manager in Major League Baseball history — his title was business manager — Rickey (as inventor of the farm system) would come to embody the position of the baseball operations executive who mastered scouting, player acquisition and development and business affairs — the definition of the modern GM. Rogers Hornsby replaced Rickey to become a player-manager, and in 1926, his first full year as manager, he led the Cardinals to their first World Series championship. Owner Breadon rewarded Hornsby by trading the fiery leader and star second baseman to the New York Giants for Jimmy Ring and Frankie Frisch, the latter spending a decade anchoring second for the Cardinals.
- Wesley Branch Rickey (* 20. Dezember 1881 in Portsmouth, Ohio; † 9. Dezember 1965 in Columbia, Missouri) war ein US-amerikanischer Baseballspieler, -manager und -funktionär in der Major League Baseball. Sein Spitzname war The Mahatma.
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