“Things worthwhile generally don't just happen. Luck is a fact, but should not be a factor. Good luck is what is left over after intelligence and effort have combined at their best. Negligence or indifference are usually reviewed from an unlucky seat. The law of cause and effect and causality both work the same with inexorable exactitudes. Luck is the residue of design.”
– Branch Rickey
What would we do without positive influences in our lives? Considering the many traps and snares of life, any person can easily sink to the depths of despair and misery. Depending upon fate and the circumstances of our individual existence, we rely on trusted individuals to help us navigate the waters ahead. Being fortunate enough to meet mentors that offer a guiding hand, and intelligent enough to follow their wise advice is providence – divine or natural intervention that can foresee our care.
I have written about the role of education in Branch Rickey's life before. It cannot be understated how important his family and, eventually, his community – particularly his schools – were to the development of this great man. The lesson is measured not only in providence but also in opportunity and the will to take advantage of improvements to advance his mind, body, and soul. From a very young age, Rickey found education – in a humble one-room school to a larger and more advanced institution to a liberal arts university – to be crucial to his storied life.
Like so many young people, Rickey embraced learning, and thanks to many of his mentors, he began shaping his views on social issues including prohibition, racial equality, and labor relations. In his case, a passion for baseball drew him to his life purpose, yet it was his intelligence and his moral convictions that made him a truly legendary baseball executive and civil rights leader.
In fact, the etymology of the word “mentor” speaks to the importance of such positive influences. During the ten-year Trojan War, Odysseus, the king of Ithica, left his wife Penelope and his son Telemachus to lead his army. He placed Telemachus under the care of a guardian called Mentor, whose job it was to protect and guide him. Although the Mentor in the story is portrayed as a somewhat ineffective old man, the goddess Athena assumes his appearance to guide young Telemachus in his time of difficulty. With Athena’s guidance, Telemachus helped his father establish both his claim and his authority after the long journey.
The extent of the help offered by Branch Rickey's mentors is the stuff of legend, too. Helping him navigate his studies, overcome personal impediments, and pushing him to develop his obvious talents, Rickey's teachers and school administrators served him exceedingly well. They went above and beyond their duty to help a student further his studies. In short, they willingly opened many doors that helped “make” the man.
The lesson for us adults is monumental to say the least. There are no limits to the human will inspired by positive influences. We must help youth develop their unique faculty of the human mind by which they decide or conceive of themselves as deciding upon and initiating action. May we forever serve to guide aspirations and offer crucial support to young people.
I encourage you to read the available biographies to see for yourself how the small community of Lucasville, its school, and its fine educators contributed to this truly American iconic tale. The movie 42 skips over this important narrative. It is understandably about Jackie Robinson; however there would be no 1947 advancement without Branch Rickey, and there would be no Branch Rickey involvement without the influences in his early life.
Thanks once more to my friend Dale Taylor for allowing me to copy an excerpt from his book Baseball Through Small-Town Eyes to write this blog entry. I believe we both understand the importance of teachers, counselors, and others who hold up a mirror to us.
(Dale Taylor. Baseball Through Small-Town Eyes. Shawnee State University. 1996.)
Branch Rickey's deep-seated faith and dogged work ethic took him to the pinnacle of success, earning him a place in the Baseball Hall of Fame and in history. Even though he has been dead for more than a half-century and played in the game more than a century ago, his lessons live on. Don't miss that lesson. It could be called “doing well by doing good.”
John Baldoni, executive coach and educator who has authored thirteen books on leadership, says …
“Rickey told his children he had 'three abides.' They are honesty, industriousness, and kindness: infinite kindness – a kindness that transcends the form of courtesy… Out of infinite kindness grow real love and understanding and tolerance and warmth. Nothing can take the place of such an enduring asset.”
(John Baldoni. “Branch Rickey: Doing Well By Doing Good.” Forbes. September 3, 2021.)
So, finally, I ask you: “Where did that “enduring asset” of “real love” originate and bloom into those precious personal virtues? The answer is in the heart and the mind of an incredible human being nurtured in a small-town in Scioto County, Ohio. It still happens there today. What a beautiful design. Long may it run.
“Never surrender opportunity to security.”
– Branch Rickey
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