From the desk of Fr. Kevin

Put me in coach, I am ready to play…

This was a decision so complex, so far-reaching, so fraught with so many pitfalls but filled with so much good, if it was right, I just had to work it out in this room with you. I had to talk to God about it and be sure what he wanted me to do. I hope you don’t mind.

My father was born and raised in St. Louis. But in 1994 when he passed away, when it came time to bury my dad, we buried him, not in Cardinal red, but in blue, the blue of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Why was my dad a Dodger fan? Blame Branch Rickey.

It is safe to say that Branch Rickey not only revolutionized the sport of baseball, but he transformed America. He was the inventor of the farm system in baseball, a way of developing talent. He was responsible for the first full-time spring training facility, in Vero Beach, Florida, and encouraged the use of now-commonplace tools such as the batting cage, pitching machines, and batting helmets. He also pioneered the use of statistical analysis in baseball (what is now known as sabermetrics). But his biggest and most profound innovation happened seventy-seven years ago last week, on April 10, 1947, when Rickey announced that Jackie Robinson, an African-American player, had signed with the Dodgers, thereby breaking the color barrier of Major League Baseball which had tacitly been in place since 1881.

America was a bit different back in 1947.  Believe it or not, St. Louis was the one of the southernmost cities with baseball, and when Mr. Robinson came to town things got a bit heated, which is an polite term for rabidly racist. Rickey knew that his decision would not be a popular one. He knew that he was opening Jackie Robinson up not only to vicious scorn and derision, but possible physical injury and harm. He knew that however harsh he was treated, Robinson must not, could not retaliate. It would be tough.

What motivated Branch Rickey to make such a bold and risky move?

Make no mistake about it Rickey was a shrewd and savvy businessman, who knew the sport of baseball as well as anyone. He also knew that Robinson was a great player with blazing speed. He would be in 1947 the Rookie of the Year, a six time All Star and the MVP of the league in 1949.

He is a member of the All-Century Team. And every major league

team has retired 42, his number. So Rickey had some solid baseball reasons.

But what you may not know, is that Branch Rickey was also motivated

to break the color barrier of baseball because he was a devout Christian. Granted, there were

many so-called Christians who loathed the idea of a black man playing baseball. Nevertheless,

Branch Rickey was a man of deep faith and conviction, and that factored into this monumental decision.

When a well-known journalist of the era told the Rickey that he thought “all hell would break loose” the next day with Robinson due to take the field for the first time as a Brooklyn Dodger, Rickey disagreed. “I believe tomorrow all heaven will rejoice.”

 

Rickey deeply deliberated over his decision. He went to see the pastor of his church in Brooklyn. He barreled into his office and told the minister to be quiet. He didn’t want to talk; he just wanted to be silent. He paced back and forth in the parish office, for 45 minutes, not allowing the good Reverend to speak or say anything. He finally banged his fist on his desk and said: “I have got it; I am going to sign Jackie Robinson.” He continued:

This was a decision so complex, so far-reaching, so fraught with so many pitfalls but filled with so much good, if it was right, I just had to work it out in this room with you. I had to talk to God about it and be sure what he wanted me to do. I hope you don’t mind.

He then straightened his trademark bowtie, put on his hat and said thank you to the minister, who sat in stunned silence.

And all of baseball was changed, and all of America was transformed.

And another man born in 1918, in St. Louis, of similar deep faith and

conviction, my father, would root for Rickey’s team out of respect for that decision, much to his children’s chagrin, merciless teasing and profound admiration.

Several years ago, it was a strange fashion for someone, usually right behind home plate to hold a sign saying John 3:16. In case you don’t know that verse reads: “God so loved the world that he sent his only

Begotten Son.”  Branch Rickey didn’t need a cardboard sign to proclaim his faith to the world, he lived it out with a bold and transforming decision which has touched every aspect of our lives and culture.

On a monument dedicated to Branch Rickey outside of Coors Field in Colorado it reads:

It is not the honor that you take with you but the heritage you leave behind.

 

Yes, it is Mr. Rickey, yes it is.

Father Kevin