
Branch Rickey
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $10.31
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Dick Hill
-
By:
-
Jimmy Breslin
About this listen
The idea of integrating baseball began as a dream in the mind of Branch Rickey. In 1947, as president and general manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers, he defied racism on and off the field to bring Jackie Robinson into the major leagues, changing the sport and the nation forever. Rickey's is the classic American tale of a poor boy from Ohio whose deep-seated faith and dogged work ethic took him to the pinnacle of success, earning him a place in the Hall of Fame and in history. Bestselling author and Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Jimmy Breslin is a legend in his own right. In his inimitable anecdotal style, he provides a lively portrait of Rickey and his times, including such colorful characters as Dodgers' owner George V. McLaughlin (dubbed "George the Fifth" for his love of Scotch); diamond greats Leo Durocher, George Sisler, and Dizzy Dean; and Robinson himself, a man whose remarkable talent was equaled only by his resilience in the face of intolerance. Breslin brings to life the heady days when baseball emerged as the national pastime in this inspiring biography of a great American who remade a sport---and dreamed of remaking a country.
©2011 Jimmy Breslin (P)2011 TantorListeners also enjoyed...
-
Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bronx Is Burning
- 1977, Baseball, Politics, and the Battle for the Soul of a City
- By: Jonathan Mahler
- Narrated by: Kyle Tait
- Length: 11 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
By early 1977, New York City was in the grip of hysteria caused by a murderer dubbed "Son of Sam". And on a sweltering night in July, a citywide power outage touched off an orgy of looting and arson that led to the largest mass arrest in the city's history. As the turbulent year wore on, the city became absorbed in two epic battles: the fight between Yankee slugger Reggie Jackson and team manager Billy Martin, and the battle between Ed Koch and Mario Cuomo for the city's mayoralty.
-
-
Excellent
- By pp on 04-22-21
By: Jonathan Mahler
-
Ted Williams
- The Biography of an American Hero
- By: Leigh Montville
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 21 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
He was one of the greatest figures of his generation and arguably the greatest baseball hitter of all time. But what made Ted Williams a legend and a lightning rod for controversy in life and in death? New York Times best-selling author Leigh Montville delivers an intimate, riveting account of this extraordinary life.
-
-
An enjoyable listen for baseball buffs
- By Champ on 06-02-04
By: Leigh Montville
-
The Baseball 100
- By: Joe Posnanski
- Narrated by: Cary Hite
- Length: 30 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Longer than Moby-Dick and nearly as ambitious,The Baseball 100 is a one-of-a-kind work by award-winning sportswriter and lifelong student of the game Joe Posnanski that tells the story of the sport through the remarkable lives of its 100 greatest players. In the book’s introduction, Pulitzer Prize-winning commentator George F. Will marvels, “Posnanski must already have lived more than 200 years. How else could he have acquired such a stock of illuminating facts and entertaining stories about the rich history of this endlessly fascinating sport?”
-
-
Just OK. Too Tangential & Distracting
- By Matthew R. on 01-21-23
By: Joe Posnanski
-
The Boys of Summer
- The Classic Narrative of Growing Up Within Shouting Distance of Ebbets Field, Covering the Jackie Robinson Dodgers, and What's Happened to Everybody Since
- By: Roger Kahn
- Narrated by: Phil Gigante
- Length: 15 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is a story about young men who learned to play baseball during the 1930s and 1940s, and then went on to play for one of the most exciting major-league ball clubs ever fielded, the team that broke the color barrier with Jackie Robinson. It is a story by and about a sportswriter who grew up near Ebbets Field, and who had the good fortune in the 1950s to cover the Dodgers for the Herald Tribune. This is the story about what happened to the team when their glory days were behind them.
-
-
Classic book!
- By Christopher Arthur on 11-19-17
By: Roger Kahn
-
Summer of '49
- By: David Halberstam
- Narrated by: Jamie Renell
- Length: 10 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The year was 1949, and a war-wearied nation turned from the battlefields to the ball fields in search of new heroes. It was a summer that marked the beginning of a sports rivalry unequaled in the annals of athletic competition. The awesome New York Yankees and the indomitable Boston Red Sox were fighting for supremacy of baseball's American League and an aging Joe DiMaggio and a brash, headstrong hitting phenomenon named Ted Williams led their respective teams in a classic pennant duel of almost mythic proportions—one that would be decided on the last day of the season.
-
-
Excellent
- By RJA on 11-03-22
By: David Halberstam
-
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
- An American Slave
- By: Frederick Douglass
- Narrated by: Raymond Hearn
- Length: 4 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This classic of American literature, a dramatic autobiography of the early life of an American slave, was first published in 1845, when its author had just achieved his freedom. It is a story that shocked the world with its first-hand account of the horrors of slavery. The book was an incredible success. It sold over 30,000 copies and was an international best seller.
-
-
Appropriate Audio
- By Gigi P on 05-23-16
-
Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bronx Is Burning
- 1977, Baseball, Politics, and the Battle for the Soul of a City
- By: Jonathan Mahler
- Narrated by: Kyle Tait
- Length: 11 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
By early 1977, New York City was in the grip of hysteria caused by a murderer dubbed "Son of Sam". And on a sweltering night in July, a citywide power outage touched off an orgy of looting and arson that led to the largest mass arrest in the city's history. As the turbulent year wore on, the city became absorbed in two epic battles: the fight between Yankee slugger Reggie Jackson and team manager Billy Martin, and the battle between Ed Koch and Mario Cuomo for the city's mayoralty.
-
-
Excellent
- By pp on 04-22-21
By: Jonathan Mahler
-
Ted Williams
- The Biography of an American Hero
- By: Leigh Montville
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 21 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
He was one of the greatest figures of his generation and arguably the greatest baseball hitter of all time. But what made Ted Williams a legend and a lightning rod for controversy in life and in death? New York Times best-selling author Leigh Montville delivers an intimate, riveting account of this extraordinary life.
-
-
An enjoyable listen for baseball buffs
- By Champ on 06-02-04
By: Leigh Montville
-
The Baseball 100
- By: Joe Posnanski
- Narrated by: Cary Hite
- Length: 30 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Longer than Moby-Dick and nearly as ambitious,The Baseball 100 is a one-of-a-kind work by award-winning sportswriter and lifelong student of the game Joe Posnanski that tells the story of the sport through the remarkable lives of its 100 greatest players. In the book’s introduction, Pulitzer Prize-winning commentator George F. Will marvels, “Posnanski must already have lived more than 200 years. How else could he have acquired such a stock of illuminating facts and entertaining stories about the rich history of this endlessly fascinating sport?”
-
-
Just OK. Too Tangential & Distracting
- By Matthew R. on 01-21-23
By: Joe Posnanski
-
The Boys of Summer
- The Classic Narrative of Growing Up Within Shouting Distance of Ebbets Field, Covering the Jackie Robinson Dodgers, and What's Happened to Everybody Since
- By: Roger Kahn
- Narrated by: Phil Gigante
- Length: 15 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is a story about young men who learned to play baseball during the 1930s and 1940s, and then went on to play for one of the most exciting major-league ball clubs ever fielded, the team that broke the color barrier with Jackie Robinson. It is a story by and about a sportswriter who grew up near Ebbets Field, and who had the good fortune in the 1950s to cover the Dodgers for the Herald Tribune. This is the story about what happened to the team when their glory days were behind them.
-
-
Classic book!
- By Christopher Arthur on 11-19-17
By: Roger Kahn
-
Summer of '49
- By: David Halberstam
- Narrated by: Jamie Renell
- Length: 10 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The year was 1949, and a war-wearied nation turned from the battlefields to the ball fields in search of new heroes. It was a summer that marked the beginning of a sports rivalry unequaled in the annals of athletic competition. The awesome New York Yankees and the indomitable Boston Red Sox were fighting for supremacy of baseball's American League and an aging Joe DiMaggio and a brash, headstrong hitting phenomenon named Ted Williams led their respective teams in a classic pennant duel of almost mythic proportions—one that would be decided on the last day of the season.
-
-
Excellent
- By RJA on 11-03-22
By: David Halberstam
-
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
- An American Slave
- By: Frederick Douglass
- Narrated by: Raymond Hearn
- Length: 4 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This classic of American literature, a dramatic autobiography of the early life of an American slave, was first published in 1845, when its author had just achieved his freedom. It is a story that shocked the world with its first-hand account of the horrors of slavery. The book was an incredible success. It sold over 30,000 copies and was an international best seller.
-
-
Appropriate Audio
- By Gigi P on 05-23-16
-
Leadership
- By: Doris Kearns Goodwin
- Narrated by: Beau Bridges, David Morse, Jay O. Sanders, and others
- Length: 18 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Are leaders born or made? Where does ambition come from? How does adversity affect the growth of leadership? Does the man make the times or do the times make the man? In Leadership, Goodwin draws upon four of the presidents she has studied most closely - Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Lyndon B. Johnson (in civil rights) - to show how they first recognized leadership qualities within themselves, and were recognized by others as leaders.
-
-
What makes a president great?
- By tru britty on 09-25-18
-
Deliver Me from Nowhere
- The Making of Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska
- By: Warren Zanes
- Narrated by: Warren Zanes
- Length: 7 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Without Nebraska, Bruce Springsteen might not be who he is today. The natural follow-up to Springsteen’s hugely successful album The River should have been the hit-packed Born in the U.S.A. But instead, in 1982, he came out with an album consisting of a series of dark songs he had recorded by himself, for himself. But more than forty years later, Nebraska is arguably Springsteen’s most important record—the lasting clue to understanding not just his career as an artist and the vision behind it, but also the man himself.
-
-
Much more than a “Making of” story…
- By W. Smith on 05-31-23
By: Warren Zanes
-
Unscripted
- The Epic Battle for a Media Empire and the Redstone Family Legacy
- By: James B. Stewart, Rachel Abrams
- Narrated by: Robert Petkoff
- Length: 12 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 2016, the fate of Paramount Global’s entertainment empire hung precariously in the balance. Its founder and head, ninety-three-year-old Sumner M. Redstone, was facing a very public lawsuit brought by a former romantic companion, Manuela Herzer, which placed Sumner’s deteriorating health and questionable judgment under a harsh light.
-
-
I could t wait for it to end
- By Abbie L. Smith on 03-01-23
By: James B. Stewart, and others
-
Cobb
- By: Al Stump
- Narrated by: Ian Esmo
- Length: 19 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As a boy in the 1890s he went looking for thrills in a rural Georgia that still burned with humiliation from the Civil War. As an old man in the 1960s he dared death, picked fights, refused to take his medicine, and drove off all his friends and admirers. He went to his deathbed alone, clutching a loaded pistol and a bag containing millions of dollars worth of cash and securities. During the years in between, he became, according to Al Stump, "the most shrewd, inventive, lurid, detested, mysterious, and superb of all baseball players." He was Ty Cobb. In Cobb, Stump tells how he was given a fascinating window into the Georgia Peach's life and times when the dying Cobb hired him in 1960 to ghostwrite his autobiography.
-
-
What a man -- what a book!
- By John on 08-19-03
By: Al Stump
-
Luckiest Man
- The Life and Death of Lou Gehrig
- By: Jonathan Eig
- Narrated by: Edward Herrmann
- Length: 5 hrs and 46 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lou Gehrig was the Iron Horse, baseball's strongest and most determined superstar, struck down in his prime by a disease that now bears his name. But who was Lou Gehrig, really? Lou Gehrig is regarded as the greatest first baseman in baseball history. Shy and socially awkward, Gehrig was a misfit on a Yankee team that included drinkers and hell-raisers, most notably Babe Ruth.
-
-
Wow! What an amazing story!
- By M on 08-13-14
By: Jonathan Eig
-
The Big Bam
- The Life and Times of Babe Ruth
- By: Leigh Montville
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 15 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Babe Ruth was more than baseball's original superstar. For 85 years, he has remained the sport's reigning titan. He has been named Athlete of the Century...more than once. But who was this large, loud, enigmatic man? In The Big Bam, Leigh Montville brings his trademark touch to this groundbreaking, revelatory portrait of the Babe.
-
-
The Big Bam
- By Alan on 06-13-06
By: Leigh Montville
-
42 Faith
- The Rest of the Jackie Robinson Story
- By: Ed Henry
- Narrated by: Ed Henry
- Length: 9 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Journalist and baseball lover Ed Henry reveals for the first time the backstory of faith that guided Jackie Robinson into not only the baseball record books but the annals of civil rights advancement as well. Through recently discovered sermons, interviews with Robinson's family and friends, and even an unpublished book by the player himself, Henry details a side of Jackie's humanity that few have taken the time to see.
-
-
42Faith
- By Phillip L. on 04-11-17
By: Ed Henry
-
Opening Day
- The Story of Jackie Robinson's First Season
- By: Jonathan Eig
- Narrated by: Richard Allen
- Length: 12 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Drawing on interviews with surviving players, sportswriters, and eyewitnesses, as well as newly discovered material from archives around the country, Jonathan Eig presents a fresh portrait of a ferocious competitor who embodied integration's promise and helped launch the modern civil-rights era. Full of new details and thrilling action, Opening Day brings to life baseball's ultimate story.
-
-
Great book, not so great reading
- By Joe Baseball on 08-30-07
By: Jonathan Eig
-
Joe DiMaggio
- The Hero's Life
- By: Richard Ben Cramer
- Narrated by: Richard Ben Cramer
- Length: 6 hrs and 18 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this groundbreaking biography, Richard Ben Cramer presents a stunning, often shocking portrait of the hero nobody knew. It is a story that sweeps through the 20th century, bringing light to America's national game, movie stars, mobsters, as well as the birth - and the price - of national celebrity.
-
-
Joe DiMaggio
- By Patrick on 08-22-03
-
Great Baseball Writing
- By: Editors of Sports Illustrated
- Narrated by: Dennis Holland
- Length: 27 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Sports Illustrated was launched in 1954, baseball was, indisputable, the national pastime, its stars America's epic heroes, its rivalries the era's mythology. As baseballs fortunes rose and fell over the next 50 years - and then rose again to new heights, drawing more than 65 million fans to ballparks in 2004 - the game never failed to produce great drama and inspired storytelling.
-
-
mispronunciations lowered my overall rating
- By John J. Elert on 04-16-18
-
Satchel
- The Life and Times of an American Legend
- By: Larry Tye
- Narrated by: Dominic Hoffman
- Length: 13 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The superbly researched, spellbindingly told story of athlete, showman, philosopher, and boundary breaker Leroy “Satchel” Paige. Few reliable records or news reports survive about players in the Negro Leagues. Through dogged detective work, award-winning author and journalist Larry Tye has tracked down the truth about this majestic and enigmatic pitcher, interviewing more than 200 Negro Leaguers and Major Leaguers, talking to family and friends who had never told their stories before, and retracing Paige’s steps across the continent.
-
-
Good story about a baseball icon.
- By Brad on 05-03-14
By: Larry Tye
-
The Last Boy
- Mickey Mantle and the End of America's Childhood
- By: Jane Leavy
- Narrated by: Jane Leavy, John Bedford Lloyd
- Length: 17 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Drawing on more than 500 interviews with friends and family, teammates, and opponents, she delivers the definitive account of Mantle's life, mining the mythology of The Mick for the true story of a luminous and illustrious talent with an achingly damaged soul.
-
-
The Man Behind the Myth
- By Ray on 11-12-10
By: Jane Leavy
Critic reviews
What listeners say about Branch Rickey
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Thomas E. Lyons
- 08-05-20
It's a "biography"
This was not a biography of Branch Rickey. This was a telling of stories that Branch Rickey was integral in developing through the lens of an author who knew the relevant characters.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Ryan O'Toole
- 07-20-20
What a great book!
"Baseball was a sport for hillbillies with great eyesight" page 6, and it keeps going on and on like this. Great truths, fantastic research, and all you'd expect from the last real reporter in America. I listened to it while exercising, then had to read over what I covered when I was done, as seeing the words makes a difference. I only wish Breslin read it, but Dick Hill does a pretty good version of him. A+
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
- Anonymous User
- 04-01-11
the mahatma / mr. rickey
perfect marriage of story and storyteller
gruff /egotistical / perceptive / decisive
could be said of both rickey and breslin
no attempt at a spineless review of facts
a deep focus on the telling details and meaning
the economy of storytelling only enhances the tale
4-15-47 the absolute greatest day in the history of baseball
white pompous evangelical farm boy/lawyer from ohio
black willful angry sharecropper's son from california/georgia
it took the stage of NYC to bring them together
the other owners voted 15-1 to stop rickey/robinson
only breslin's city could overcome them and make history
america at its' best / sport at its' best / new york at its' best
breslin rightly connects the dots to other watershed moments
best example of an audiobook i've heard in the last 5 years
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Martha Healy
- 12-22-13
A little baseball a little civil rights history.
I admit I went to read this after watching the movie 42 about Jackie Robinson. Also as an old (meaning I'm old) New York Giant baseball fan who lived and breathed the rivalry with the Brooklyn Dodgers I was interested. Also remember Jimmy Breslin's sports columns, how could I go wrong. I saw the movie and wondered how much about Branch Rickey was true, how much license had been taken. I was told Rickey was so much MORE than the movie portrayed and having read the book that was true. So you can read it as a baseball fan, as a student of the civil rights movement or just some interesting picture of life and hopefully how much it has changed.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- JMKIII58
- 03-22-17
5 STARS! A MUST READ!
A wonderful telling of the life of Branch Rickey. An innovator in so many ways on and off the field of baseball..
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful