A country can’t get by on principles alone — it needs heroes. Heroes take a nation’s principles and live them out.
This Friday marks the 75th anniversary of the greatest act of heroism in American sports. On this date in 1947, Jackie Robinson broke the color line in major league baseball, suiting up for the Brooklyn Dodgers as the first black big-league player. We rightly should focus most on Robinson himself. Few men could have conducted themselves as he did. We’re made a better country for studying the man and his honorable deeds.
Yet, while Robinson should certainly receive the most attention, we also can commemorate and learn from others who supported this milestone. An important figure in that regard was Branch Rickey.
Rickey served as the president and general manager for the Dodgers. In that role, he scouted Robinson and then orchestrated his move from the Kansas City Monarchs in the Negro League to the Montreal Royals, a Dodger’s affiliate, to the big league club itself.
Rickey would never have moved to integrate the Major Leagues if he didn’t possess far-reaching business sense. Indeed, in the 1930s, he’d already revolutionized the game by creating the minor league farm system. Two other characteristics played into Rickey’s contribution, and they can help us model ourselves after our heroes.
First were his religious beliefs. Rickey was raised a strict Methodist, refusing to drink alcohol or play games on Sundays. His Methodist Christianity planted in him a strong sense of God’s justice, in particular, that God created all human beings in His own image. Thus, while a coach of Ohio Wesleyan’s baseball team in 1903 and 1904, Rickey saw the discrimination hurled against Charles Thomas, a black player on the team. Though he tried to mitigate that discrimination at the time, he vowed to do something far more significant in the future.
Second, Rickey was a patriot. He loved his country, not just because it was his own but because it was good. America’s goodness resided in its commitment to human equality and its consequent commitment to liberty, especially in the realm of free enterprise. Thus, integrating baseball didn’t expose any “wrong” in America’s principles — it fulfilled America’s deepest commitment. Richey was also a lifelong opponent of the Soviet Union. He gave speeches around the country opposing communism.
These qualities of religious devotion and patriotism formed Rickey for the moment when his country most needed him. As we mark the 75th anniversary of Robinson’s accomplishment, let us also honor Rickey’s supporting role. Let us study both men so we might imitate their greatness, both as human beings and as citizens.
Adam Carrington is an associate professor of politics at Hillsdale College.
