Branch Rickey, the Man Who Signed Jackie Robinson, on Luck

“Luck is the residue of design.” – Branch Rickey

Branch Rickey certainly knew a lot about luck because he was a master of design. He’s most famously known as the Brooklyn Dodgers executive who signed Jackie Robinson and helped break baseball’s color barrier in 1947. Rickey was also the father of the modern minor league farm system, an early advocate for the use of batting helmets, and the man who drafted the legendary Roberto Clemente, the first Afro-Hispanic star ballplayer.

Branch Rickey was posthumously elected to baseball’s Hall of Fame in 1967 and was recently portrayed by Harrison Ford in the film 42.