Bobby Bragan spent parts of seven seasons between 1940 and 1948
with the Philadelphia Phillies and the Brooklyn Dodgers, playing mostly
shortstop and catcher and batting .240 for his career. He missed the
1945 and 1946 seasons to serve in the U.S. military.
In 1947, he made his only plate appearance in a World Series game,
delivering a pinch-hit double for the Dodgers against the New York
Yankees.
During that season, Bragan had been critical of the decision by Dodgers
front office executive Branch Rickey to have Jackie Robinson break
baseball's color barrier.
"Growing up in Birmingham, Ala., I never mixed much with blacks," Bragan
wrote (with Jeff Guinn) in his autobiography, "You Can't Hit the Ball
with the Bat on Your Shoulder." "I had never really had much
conversation with a black person, much less eaten a meal or shared a
train compartment with one. That's what I would have to do if Jackie
joined the Dodgers, and I just wasn't going to stand for it."
But Bragan changed course after one road trip with Robinson, telling
Rickey that he considered it an honor to be Robinson's teammate.
"I always say that, of all the people I've known in baseball, I respect
Branch Rickey the most," Bragan wrote. "I'd have to put Jackie up there
on top with him. Mr. Rickey was a genius, and Jackie Robinson is the
best proof of that genius. Thanks to the two of them, I was able to
overcome my racial prejudice."
Rickey maintained a special interest in Bragan and in 1948 offered
Bragan the opportunity to be a player-manager for the Fort Worth Cats,
the Dodgers' Class AA team. Bragan remained with the team through 1952,
then spent three seasons as player-manager of the Hollywood Stars in the
Pacific Coast League.
Bragan would go on to manage seven seasons in the major leagues with the
Pittsburgh Pirates (1956-57), Cleveland Indians (1958) and
Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves (1963-66), compiling a 443-478 record.
Along the way, he managed future Hall of Fame players such as Hank
Aaron, Roberto Clemente, Bill Mazeroski, Warren Spahn and Eddie Mathews.
Between his managerial stints at the major league level, Bragan was a
Dodger coach and minor league manager for the organization.
As manager of the Dodgers' Class AAA team in Spokane, Wash., Bragan
oversaw such future Dodger stars as Maury Wills, Tommy Davis and Frank
Howard.
Bragan was long considered one of baseball's more colorful
personalities. He tangled often with umpires and once, during the 1953
season while managing the Hollywood Stars, stripped off his uniform on
the field and threw articles of clothing and pieces of equipment across
the diamond to protest a call.
Another time, Bragan sent nine pinch-hitters to the plate during a
single at-bat against the Los Angeles Angels, who were then playing in
the Pacific Coast League.
He stayed true to his showmanship and umpire-baiting nature in 2005 when
he came out of retirement to manage the minor league Fort Worth Cats for
one game.
At age 87, he became the oldest person to manage a professional baseball
game, but he was not around for the entire game. He was ejected in the
third inning for arguing with the home-plate umpire.
Robert Randall Bragan was born Oct. 30, 1917, in Birmingham, Ala. Four
of his brothers played professional baseball, and one, Jimmy, was a
major league coach and president of the Southern League.
Bragan worked in the 1970s and 1980s as the Texas Rangers' community
director of public relations for the team's speakers bureau. He remained
a special assistant to the club for the last 20 years.
He invested in the Dallas-Fort Worth area through his Bobby Bragan Youth
Foundation, which was established in 1991 and annually awards first-year
college tuition scholarships to local eighth-graders as a way to
encourage them to continue their education.
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