| Show t released by western newspaper union W ahen 7 IEN HEN the brooklyn dodgers signed branch rickey to a five year contract as general manager the club secured the services of one of the most powerful men in baseball mr rickey has an uncanny knack of judging men lie ile is a polished orator graduate lawyer churchman and holder of numerous degrees he has properly been called the father of the chain store system ot of using smaller clubs as a recruiting grounds tor for young players in addition mr rickey is no stuffed shirt he still works as hard to achieve success as when he was teaching country school in the hills of southern ohio rickey coached baseball at the university of michigan during the seasons of 1912 and 1913 he idis discovered such stars as george and johnny lavan for or the st louis browns at the urging of owner robert lee hedges he be became a part time scout for the st louis americans and finally came to the front office as secretary he became manager of the browns in 1916 named president the following year a group of st louis men bought the cardinals rickey was named president and field manager and remained at this job until 1924 when he was made general manager of the extensive cardinal system he helped create rickey liked to get his ball players young preferably at the age of 16 or 17 and bring them up in the cardinals farm organization the system paid dividends not only in strong cardinal teams but in direct profits through their chain system the cards developed more players than v W i N 4 44 BRANCH RICKEY they could use and there was a ready market for them quite a few national league stars were trained in the chain store system and then sold to a rival club while quite a few managers a are re good judges of a new players ability seemingly fewer of them can sense the first signs that a star player is slipping rickey had an unerring instinct in this regard he sold players who appeared to be at their peak but who in his judgment were starting the long trip downhill memorable deals the cubs bought dizzy dean from him for in a deal which will be long remembered in chicago diz was through and take long to prove it joe medwick went to the dodgers for and several players brooklyn have much to say concerning that particular investment johnny mize went to the giants for or another the cards still won the pennant rickey pointed out that the cardinals offer the real challenge in this brooklyn job they will be hurt by the draft comparatively less than any other team in the majors I 1 know they can bring 11 major league pitchers four catchers their whole infield plus ray sanders the extra first baseman and at least six outfielders to camp all those men are married and are fathers they are hurt urt most in the outfield where lost enos slaughter terry moore also is unmarried it is obvious that changes will be made in brooklyn rickey also remarked that the alarming thing about the dodgers is the number of 10 year men on the team the direction and rapidity of their descent over the last 40 days of the season is cause for concern in planning for 1943 and yet it is a fine team and while most of the players are veterans they are competitive vet erans and know how to fight but I 1 have always said that it is a bigger mistake to hold on to a mediocre player too long than to let go of a good one too soon dickeys Ric keys actions through the years I 1 prove that he means that last very logical statement I 1 |
