View source for Branch Rickey Jr.

{{Infobox person
| name          = Branch Rickey Jr.
| image         =
| alt           =
| caption       =
| birth_name    =
| birth_date    = {{Birth date|1914|1|31}}
| birth_place   = [[St. Louis, Missouri]]
| death_date    = {{Death date and age|1961|4|10|1914|1|31}}
| death_place   = [[Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania]]
| occupation    = Baseball executive
| years_active  = 1935–1961
}}'''<nowiki>Wesley</nowiki> Branch Rickey Jr.''' (January 31, 1914 &ndash; April 10, 1961) was an American front office executive in [[Major League Baseball]]. The son of [[Baseball Hall of Fame]] club executive [[Branch Rickey]], who among his many achievements invented the [[farm system]] and led the movement within [[Organized Baseball]] to break the [[baseball color line|color line]], Branch Jr. — called "The Twig" by many — was a highly respected farm system director, but never headed his own organization. He was the father of [[Branch Rickey III|Branch Barrett Rickey]], widely known as "Branch Rickey III", a longtime baseball executive in the major and minor leagues.
Like his father, Rickey graduated from [[Ohio Wesleyan University]] and attended the [[University of Michigan School of Law]].<ref name="WBRjrObit">[https://web.archive.org/web/20070929111717/http://thedeadballera.com/Obits/Rickey.BranchJr.Obit.html The Dead Ball Era]</ref> Branch Jr. entered baseball in [[1935 in baseball|1935]] as business manager of the  [[Albany Cardinals|Albany Travelers]] of the Class D [[Georgia–Florida League]], one of the many farm clubs in his father's [[St. Louis Cardinals]] organization. In [[1939 in baseball|1939]], he joined the archrival [[Brooklyn Dodgers]] as farm system director, recruited by the then-Brooklyn president, [[Larry MacPhail]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Lowenfish|first=Lee|title=Branch Rickey: Baseball's Ferocious Gentleman|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jbMS6Mev-sAC|year=2007|publisher=University of Nebraska Press|location=Lincoln, Nebraska|isbn=978-0-8032-2453-7|page=298}}</ref> However, in a strange turn of events, when MacPhail resigned at the end of the [[1942 in baseball|1942]] season to rejoin the armed forces, he was replaced by Branch Sr., who in 1945 became a co-owner of the Brooklyn club.
The younger Rickey then worked with his father as the Dodgers' farm director through [[1947 in baseball|1947]], then as assistant [[general manager]], until the end of the [[1950 in baseball|1950 season]], when [[Walter O'Malley]] acquired controlling interest in the team and forced Rickey Sr., his former partner, out of the Brooklyn front office.
Rickey Sr. then moved to the [[Pittsburgh Pirates]] as [[executive vice president]] and [[general manager (baseball)|general manager]], with Branch Jr. accompanying him as the Pirates' vice president and farm system director. The younger Rickey held that post until his death in Pittsburgh at age 47 on April 10, 1961. He had long been troubled by [[diabetes]], and [[hepatitis]] and [[pneumonia]] were also factors in his passing.<ref name="WBRjrObit"/> He was buried in the Rickey family plot in [[Rushtown, Ohio|Rushtown]], [[Scioto County, Ohio]].<ref>[https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/33922105/branch-rickey FindaGrave.com]</ref>
Although the 1951–55 reign of Branch Sr. as GM of the Pirates was at the time viewed as a failure, he and Branch Jr. put into place the successful Pittsburgh organization of the 1960s and 1970s. Led by the great [[Roberto Clemente]], drafted by the Rickeys from the Dodgers, the Bucs won the [[1960 World Series]] and the [[1971 World Series]]. Pittsburgh contended through the rest of that decade, winning its last Series in [[1979 World Series|1979]].
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rickey, Branch Jr.}}
[[Category:1914 births|Rickey Jr., Branch]]
[[Category:1961 deaths|Rickey Jr., Branch]]
[[Category:Brooklyn Dodgers executives|Rickey Jr., Branch]]
[[Category:Deaths from diabetes in the United States]]
[[Category:Major League Baseball farm directors]]
[[Category:Ohio Wesleyan University alumni|Rickey Jr., Branch]]
[[Category:Pittsburgh Pirates executives|Rickey Jr., Branch]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from St. Louis]]