Engineering Baseball: Branch Rickey's Innovative Approach to Baseball Management

Abstract

Branch Rickey is regarded as one of most influential figures in history of professional baseball. Although he is most renowned for his role in integration of game, he left other equally indelible marks on way professional is played and managed. One of many quotes attributable to Rickey is luck is a residue of design. (1) This brief quote outlines Branch Rickey's to management, which begins with his belief that baseball is a and thus requires a approach in its management. (2) The philosophies Rickey used in his management are quite similar to methodologies taught within discipline of engineering management. Previous research has investigated and designated Rickey's work as that of a public manager, particularly vis-a-vis integration of Major League baseball. (3) This paper will investigate Branch Rickeys as an engineering manager toward all of his work in baseball. Given nickname the Mahatma for his wisdom and high-mindedness, Branch Rickey saw as a science requiring unique and systematic methods for its management. His differed greatly from haphazard methods most often employed in management of baseball. Before Rickey certainly had managers and leaders who were innovators and strategists. For example, Ned Hanlon was an influential manager who fostered development of scientific baseball, a system of strategies and knowledge of percentages of success of individual plays in order to achieve victory. However, no one to this point had vision of Branch Rickey in assessing potential for innovation and pursuing success on an organizational level in baseball. Rickey developed specialized management tools in such areas as player and manager training, player evaluation, strategy development, and organizational evolvement that were quite innovative for their time. Once implemented Rickeys management methods engineered great success for his teams both on field, in terms of wins, pennants, and World Series victories, and off field, in terms of profits and respect. They also changed way professional is played. As previously stated, essence of Branch Rickey's management philosophy is found in quote luck is a residue of design. This paper will explore various forms this took in successful innovation of and will draw connections between Rickeys design methods and those of engineering management. First paper will briefly describe discipline and of engineering management. Next an analysis of Rickeys educational and professional backgrounds and their influence on formation of his management style will be considered. Then several of major innovations developed by Rickey will be discussed in broad context of management of baseball. In an attempt to identify inspiration for Rickey's management approach, these innovations will be examined in how they relate to methods of engineering management. Finally, accomplishments of Branch Rickey will be reviewed in order to define Rickey's impact on history of professional baseball. ENGINEERING MANAGEMENT Engineering managers are distinguished from other managers in that they are trained and able to direct and organize projects and people, and thus manage, as well as to understand and apply engineering principles. Therefore, engineering managers are qualified for two broad types of management positions: managing specific technical functions (such as research and design) that can be found in most any company, and managing broader areas in technology-oriented companies (such as marketing or sales). (4) In a sense, a professional team can be thought of as an organization having myriad technical functions. For example, preparation, training, and maintenance of pitchers, a task with biomechanical, physiological, psychological, and strategic components, demands highly technical expertise of their coaches and trainers. …