If things don’t come easy, there is no premium on effort. There should be joy in the chase, zest in the pursuit.
BRANCH RICKEYIf things don’t come easy, there is no premium on effort. There should be joy in the chase, zest in the pursuit.
BRANCH RICKEYThe world’s not so simple anymore, I guess it never was. We ignored it, now we can’t.
BRANCH RICKEYI don’t care if I was a ditch-digger at a dollar a day, I’d want to do my job better than the fellow next to me. I’d want to be the best at whatever I do.
BRANCH RICKEYFirst of all, a man, whether seeking achievement on the athletic field or in business, must want to win. He must feel that the thing he is doing is worthwhile; so worthwhile that he is willing to pay the price of success to attain distinction.
BRANCH RICKEYDon’t look at the hole in the doughnut. Look at the whole doughnut.
BRANCH RICKEYBaseball people are generally allergic to new ideas; it took years to persuade them to put numbers on uniforms, and it is the hardest thing in the world to get Major League Baseball to change anything—even spikes on a new pair of shoes—but they will eventually…they are bound to.
BRANCH RICKEYLuck is a residue of design.
BRANCH RICKEYNegligence or indifference are usually reviewed from an unlucky seat. The law of cause and effect and causality both work the same with inexorable exactitudes. Luck is the residue of design.
BRANCH RICKEYThe only thing Abner Doubleday ever started was the Civil War.
BRANCH RICKEYWe win if the world is convinced of two things, that you are a fine gentleman, and a great baseball player.
BRANCH RICKEYA full mind is an empty bat.
BRANCH RICKEYMan may penetrate the outer reaches of the universe, he may solve the very secret of eternity itself but for me, the ultimate human experience is to witness the flawless execution of the hit-and-run.
BRANCH RICKEYThe man with the ball is responsible for what happens to the ball.
BRANCH RICKEYIt (a baseball box score) doesn’t tell how big you are, what church you attend, what color you are, or how your father voted in the last election. It just tells what kind of baseball player you were on that particular day.
BRANCH RICKEYDon’t worry about your individual numbers. Worry about the team. If the team is successful, each of you will be successful, too.
BRANCH RICKEYA great ballplayer is a player who will take a chance.
BRANCH RICKEY