Branch Rickey

By: Jimmy Breslin

Narrated by: Dick Hill

Length: 4 hrs and 9 mins

Publisher's Summary

The idea of integrating baseball began as a dream in the mind of Branch Rickey. In 1947, as president and general manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers, he defied racism on and off the field to bring Jackie Robinson into the major leagues, changing the sport and the nation forever. Rickey's is the classic American tale of a poor boy from Ohio whose deep-seated faith and dogged work ethic took him to the pinnacle of success, earning him a place in the Hall of Fame and in history. Bestselling author and Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Jimmy Breslin is a legend in his own right. In his inimitable anecdotal style, he provides a lively portrait of Rickey and his times, including such colorful characters as Dodgers' owner George V. McLaughlin (dubbed "George the Fifth" for his love of Scotch); diamond greats Leo Durocher, George Sisler, and Dizzy Dean; and Robinson himself, a man whose remarkable talent was equaled only by his resilience in the face of intolerance. Breslin brings to life the heady days when baseball emerged as the national pastime in this inspiring biography of a great American who remade a sport---and dreamed of remaking a country.

©2011 Jimmy Breslin (P)2011 Tantor

Critic Reviews

"Breslin's gift for easy-to-read yet hard-hitting prose will touch even those who aren't baseball fans." ( Publishers Weekly)

It's a "biography"

This was not a biography of Branch Rickey. This was a telling of stories that Branch Rickey was integral in developing through the lens of an author who knew the relevant characters.

What a great book!

"Baseball was a sport for hillbillies with great eyesight" page 6, and it keeps going on and on like this. Great truths, fantastic research, and all you'd expect from the last real reporter in America. I listened to it while exercising, then had to read over what I covered when I was done, as seeing the words makes a difference. I only wish Breslin read it, but Dick Hill does a pretty good version of him. A+

5 STARS! A MUST READ!

A wonderful telling of the life of Branch Rickey. An innovator in so many ways on and off the field of baseball..

A little baseball a little civil rights history.

I admit I went to read this after watching the movie 42 about Jackie Robinson. Also as an old (meaning I'm old) New York Giant baseball fan who lived and breathed the rivalry with the Brooklyn Dodgers I was interested. Also remember Jimmy Breslin's sports columns, how could I go wrong. I saw the movie and wondered how much about Branch Rickey was true, how much license had been taken. I was told Rickey was so much MORE than the movie portrayed and having read the book that was true. So you can read it as a baseball fan, as a student of the civil rights movement or just some interesting picture of life and hopefully how much it has changed.

the mahatma / mr. rickey

perfect marriage of story and storyteller
gruff /egotistical / perceptive / decisive
could be said of both rickey and breslin

no attempt at a spineless review of facts
a deep focus on the telling details and meaning
the economy of storytelling only enhances the tale

4-15-47 the absolute greatest day in the history of baseball
white pompous evangelical farm boy/lawyer from ohio
black willful angry sharecropper's son from california/georgia

it took the stage of NYC to bring them together
the other owners voted 15-1 to stop rickey/robinson
only breslin's city could overcome them and make history

america at its' best / sport at its' best / new york at its' best
breslin rightly connects the dots to other watershed moments
best example of an audiobook i've heard in the last 5 years