2394X1 First Edition (Unstated. University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln: 2007. 683 pages. Hardcover with dustjacket. Brand new book. He was not much of a player and not much more of a manager, but by the time Branch Rickey (1881-1965 finished with baseball, he had revolutionized the sportÑnot just once but three times. In this definitive biography of RickeyÑthe man sportswriters dubbed "The Brain," "The Mahatma," and, on occasion, "El Cheapo" Ñ Lee Lowenfish tells the full and colorful story of a life that forever changed the face of America's game. As the mastermind behind the Saint Louis Cardinals from 1917 to 1942, Rickey created the farm system, which allowed small-market clubs to compete with the rich and powerful. Under his direction in the 1940s, the Brooklyn Dodgers became truly the first "America's team." By signing Jackie Robinson and other black players, he single-handedly thrust baseball into the forefront of the civil rights movement. Lowenfish evokes the peculiarly American complex of God, family, and baseball that informed Rickey's actions and his accomplishments. His book offers an intriguing, richly detailed portrait of a man whose life is itself a crucial chapter in the history of American business, sport, and society. Lee Lowenfish, a historian, journalist, broadcaster, and jazz commentator, is the author of The Imperfect Diamond: A History of Baseball's Labor Wars. Includes an Index. "Lowenfish's take is detailed and nuanced, balancing the issue of integration with the economic and competitive imperatives of running a professional baseball team. . . . Where Lowenfish is at his best is in explicating the complex and often contradictory impulses that drove his subject, as well as his almost evangelical sense of self. . . . All this leaves us with a questionÑor a set of questionsÑabout who Rickey really was. To Lowenfish's credit, he doesn't look for simple answers; despite his own abiding admiration, he never sugarcoats or presents Rickey in anything other than a three-dimensional light. . . . Without him, baseball would not exist as we know it. America would be a different place as well. In these pages Lowenfish traces the evolution of that America through the filter of a remarkable life."ÑDavid L. Ulin, LA Times Book Review "Branch Rickey: Baseball's Ferocious Gentleman, by Lee Lowenfish, provides a thorough account of the life, character, and exploits of this teetotaler Ohio farm boy, the grandson of a horse trader, and a true 'conservative revolutionary.'" ÑKatherine A. Powers, The Boston Globe "[O]ur heartiest recommendation: Branch Rickey - Baseball's Ferocious Gentleman by Lee Lowenfish. A fitting and admirable tribute to the 60th anniversary of Jackie Robinson's breaking of the color line. Lowenfish, a respected baseball scholar, reportedly spent 10 years researching and writing this book that, at 600 pages, is chock full of revelations and great anecdotes on Rickey's life."ÑBill Madden, NY Daily News "It's an impressive achievement in historical reporting on a unique character and will serve scholars for decades to come."ÑNeil Best, Newsday ISBN: 0803211032 $34.70USD
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