Wesley Branch Rickey

Rickey's tenure with the Dodgers lasted until 1950, when he was forced out by a fellow owner, Walter O'Malley, who became the team's president (and who ultimately moved the team to Los Angeles, earning O'Malley the enmity of Brooklyn fans). One month after leaving the Dodgers, Rickey became the general manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates, a second division club with whom he was less successful (although he did acquire players such as Roberto Clemente who provided a foundation for the Pirates' later success). Rickey stepped down as Pirates general manager in 1955 and remained in an advisory role with the team until 1959. He was then named president of a proposed new third league in Major League baseball, the Continental League. The Continental League never became a reality. But it was a key factor in spurring the expansion of major league baseball into two 10-team leagues.

On July 23, 1962, Rickey attended Jackie Robinson's induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Rickey himself was elected to the Hall in 1967 by a unanimous vote of the Committee on Baseball Veterans. He is one of twenty-three men elected to the Hall of Fame as "executives" or "pioneers," and one of only four inductees in that category whose primary role was serving in a day-to-day executive capacity as general manager. His Hall of Fame plaque sums up his contribution to baseball integration and Civil Rights simply and matterof-factly by stating, "BROUGHT JACKIE ROBINSON TO BROOKLYN IN 1947."