Branch Rickey as a Public Manager

Branch Rickey was a public manager. Admittedly, he never was appointed to head a public agency. Nor was he ever elected to public office (though he was offered the Republican nominations for both governor and senator of Missouri). On paper. Branch Rickey was a business manager—a very successful business manager. He invented baseball’s farm system and a number of innovative instructional techniques. He helped create the position of general manager and developed a cadre of managerial protégés (Frick 1973, 169–71). His teams won pennants in St. Louis, Brooklyn, and Pittsburgh.