I cannot face my God much longer knowing that his black creatures are held separate and distinct from his white creatures in the game that has given me all that I can call my own.
BRANCH RICKEYI cannot face my God much longer knowing that his black creatures are held separate and distinct from his white creatures in the game that has given me all that I can call my own.
BRANCH RICKEYA great ballplayer is a player who will take a chance.
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 RICKEYThe speed of the legs, the dexterity of the body, the grace of the swing, the elusiveness of the slide – these are the features that make Americans everywhere forget the last syllable of a man’s last name or the pigmentation of his skin.
BRANCH RICKEYProblems are the price you pay for progress.
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 RICKEYWe win if the world is convinced of two things, that you are a fine gentleman, and a great baseball player.
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 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 RICKEYThinking about the devil is worse than seeing the devil.
BRANCH RICKEYFill in any figure you want for that boy (Mickey Mantle). Whatever the figure, it’s a deal.
BRANCH RICKEYBaseball is a game of inches.
BRANCH RICKEYLuck is a residue of design.
BRANCH RICKEYThe world’s not so simple anymore, I guess it never was. We ignored it, now we can’t.
BRANCH RICKEY