Branch Rickey

The late Murray Polner was the author or editor of 15 books. His articles and reviews appeared in The New York Times, Washington Monthly, Commonweal, and The Nation.

“interesting...valuable”—SABR Bibliography Committee Newsletter; “significant”—Sports Collectors Digest; “Murray Polner’s Branch Rickey manages to overcome the genre’s limitations; it is a vivid portrait of an engaging, American original—a man whose radical innovations and commanding presence dominated baseball from 1903 until his retirement in 1965.”—David Seideman, The New Republic; “With thorough reporting and exclusive access to Rickey’s papers, housed at the Library of Congress, and just  recently made available to the public, Polner offers an examination of Rickey as complex as Red Smith’s view of him: ‘player, manager, executive, lawyer, preacher, horse-trader, spellbinder, innovator, husband and father and grandfather, sociologist, crusader, sharper, father confessor, checker shark, friend and fighter.’”—William Gildea, The Washington Post; “If you read one baseball book this year, make it this one!”—Maury Allen; “Outstanding...will brighten any baseball library!”—Chattanooga Times; “Superb...quite simply one of the finest baseball books ever!”—Raleigh News and Observer; “With perspective and obviously diligent research, Murray Polner gives us a fine and worthwhile biography, and I applaud him.”— Roger Kahn.

• Table of ContentsForeword by Branch B. Rickey      Preface to the First Edition      Preface to the Revised Edition      CHAPTER ONE      CHAPTER TWO      CHAPTER THREE      CHAPTER FOUR      CHAPTER FIVE      CHAPTER SIX      CHAPTER SEVEN      CHAPTER EIGHT      CHAPTER NINE      CHAPTER TEN      CHAPTER ELEVEN      CHAPTER TWELVE      CHAPTER THIRTEEN      Epilogue      A Bibliographic Note      Index