Rickey wows students with behind-the-scenes look at baseball

When individuals work together toward a common and honorable goal, great change is possible, Branch B. Rickey, president of the Pacific Coast League of Minor League Baseball, told students at a Nov. 15 campus event.

Rickey, of Round Rock, Texas, addressed students in the Freshman Seminar course Baseball: Home Runs, Hot Dogs and Life at Berger Hall. The students were joined by faculty, staff and community member baseball fans anxious to hear Rickey’s views on the movie “42.” The movie portrayed Rickey’s grandfather, Branch Rickey Sr., in his role as the Brooklyn Dodgers manager who signed Jackie Robinson and led to the breaking of the color barrier in baseball.

“How awesome is that to have Harrison Ford play your grandfather?” Rickey asked the students. “When we saw the movie the first time, I halfway expected him to have a blaster on hip just like Han Solo.”

Rickey said he and other family members generally agreed with the movie’s portrayal of their history-making ancestor. But he used his hour-long address to elaborate on key scenes in the movie and to drive home life lessons for the freshmen.

For example, Rickey Sr. never stepped foot in a ballpark on Sundays. But that decision was not based on religious conviction, according to his grandson. Instead, it was a keeping of a promise to his parents in exchange for letting him leave the farm to play baseball.

“Even after his parents were long since deceased, he kept his promise never to step foot on a ball field on Sundays,” Rickey said. “Your words have to mean something.”

Rickey also said movie-makers glossed over the elder Rickey’s interview of Jackie Robinson, a bruising three-hour affair filled with yelling, taunts and physical intimidation including the 62-year-old manager sliding into Robinson and asking how he would handle the situation in a game.

“Robinson’s response of ‘What would you have me do?’ was perfect,” Rickey said. “Though Jackie Robinson was a gifted athlete, it was his answer to that question that got him the contract.”

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— Photos by Tom Kimmell